4.6-magnitude earthquake rattles Los Angeles area, USGS reports

A 4.6-magnitude earthquake shook South El Monte near Los Angeles on Friday night, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The 11-mile deep quake hit at 11:38 p.m. Pacific time, according to the USGS. Dozens of people from as far away as Riverside reported feeling the tremor to the agency.

“An earthquake has occurred in the L.A. region. Our @LAFD has deployed to assess the city for damage,” wrote Mayor Eric Garcetti on Twitter.

“What step in earthquake preparedness is ‘screaming and peeing a little’ ‘cuz I just crushed that,” wrote comedian Patton Oswalt on Twitter.

“First thing I did after the earthquake is call my Gramma to check in. I asked: ‘Gram, you okay?’ wrote producer Ava DuVernay on Twitter. “She starts laughing and says: ‘That was a good one! A nice little jolt.’ She was born in South LA in 1932. That earthquake didn’t even solicit a full shrug from this lady.”

“That earthquake was completely unnecessary to the storyline,” wrote Amanda Seales on Twitter.

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale.

Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech.

This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "4.6-magnitude earthquake rattles Los Angeles area, USGS reports."