4.4 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pre-dawn earthquake rolled across the Los Angeles basin, rattling residents from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach but causing no reported damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake’s magnitude was 4.4 and it was centered 15 miles west-northwest of the downtown civic center.

USGS seismologist Robert Graves called it a typical Southern California quake of moderate magnitude and said expectations would be that damage would be slight, if it occurred at all.

Los Angeles police and fire officials said there were no immediate reports of damage.

The 6:25 a.m. quake occurred at a depth of about 5 miles. There were several aftershocks, including one of 2.7 magnitude that caused very minor shaking.

Retired AP Radio correspondent Brian Bland, who lives in suburban Santa Monica, says nothing fell or broke, but said it was “quite a shaker.”