Shallow M4.4 earthquake hits Los Angeles, California
Image credit: TW/SAM, ESRI
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M4.4 hit near Highland Park and South Pasadena, Los Angeles, California at 19:20 UTC (12:20 local time) on August 12, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 11 km (6.8 miles).
The epicenter was located 4.5 km (2.8 miles) SSE of Highland Park (population 57 566), 4.6 km (2.8 miles) SW of South Pasadena (population 25 850), 5 km (3.1 miles) WSW of Alhambra (population 80 259), 5.7 km (3.6 miles) N of East Los Angeles (population 117 222), and 7 km (4.3 miles) ENE of downtown Los Angeles.
1 325 000 people are estimated to have felt strong shaking, 2 396 000 moderate, 3 839 000 light and 15 661 000 weak.
The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities. There is a low likelihood of casualties.
A Yellow alert was issued for economic losses. Some damage is possible and the impact should be relatively localized. Estimated economic losses are less than 1% of GDP of the United States. Past events with this alert level have required a local or regional level response.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly resistant to earthquake shaking, though some vulnerable structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are unreinforced brick masonry and reinforced masonry construction.
Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides and liquefaction that might have contributed to losses.
USGS seismologist and a Caltech research associate, Dr. Lucy Jones, noted that the earthquake occurred on the same fault network responsible for the 1987 Whittier Narrows M5.9 earthquake.
According to data provided by the USGS, the quake was preceded by M1.3 at 00:04 UTC, M1.7 and 00:42 UTC and followed by M2.1 at 19:22 UTC, another M2.1 at 20:12 and M1.7 at 20:31 UTC.
The quake comes 5 days after M5.2 shook Kern County in Southern California — the strongest to hit the region in 3 years. This quake was followed by 567 aftershocks to 18:53 UTC today.
Today’s M4.4 quake was felt across Southern California, but there were no reports of major damage.
Residents of Highland Park and Alhambra reported windows rattling and objects being knocked down from shelves, while in Pasadena, a water pipe in City Hall burst, the Los Angeles Times reported.
At The Times’ headquarters in El Segundo, near Los Angeles International Airport, the seventh floor swayed, causing lights to flicker and televisions to move on their mounts. In Los Feliz-East Hollywood, the shaking set off car alarms, knocked candles off tables, and caused windows in businesses to rattle, with some residents expressing their alarm.
In Silver Lake, a brief but sharp jolt shook a kitchen exhaust hood, while in Atwater Village, the vibrations caused windows to rattle and walls to tremble.
Arcadia residents described a combination of shaking and rolling that lasted about 20 seconds, reminiscent of a train passing nearby.
Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking
Selected cities exposed
Regional seismicity
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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