No damage reported from 4.6-earthquake near Malibu

MALIBU, Calif. — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 struck the Southern California coast near Malibu on Friday afternoon and was widely felt in the Los Angeles region. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.

The quake struck at 1:47 p.m. at a depth of about 8 miles (13 kilometers), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The area of the epicenter was in the rugged Santa Monica Mountains, roughly 35 miles (56 kilometers) west of downtown Los Angeles. The range rises steeply from the coastline, and the nearest homes to the epicenter are on a narrow strip of development along the shore or scattered in the ridges and canyons.

Good afternoon Southern California! Did you feel the magnitude 4.6 earthquake about 7 miles northwest of Malibu at 1:47 pm? See: https://t.co/jgbFUtZkxL The #ShakeAlert system was activated. @Cal_OES @CAGeoSurvey @ListosCA pic.twitter.com/Ig4rmuasb9

— USGS ShakeAlert (@USGS_ShakeAlert) February 9, 2024

The earthquake was felt from the Malibu coast south to Orange County and east to downtown Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that it was “widely felt” in Los Angeles, though there was no immediate indication of damage or injuries.

In a news conference, seismologist Lucy Jones said the magnitude of the quake was not of a severity that would cause expectations of damage.

“It’s sort of run of the mill for earthquake country,” Jones said.

No tsunami alert

The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center reported that no tsunami was triggered.

Anthony Valdez, an associate at the Surfing Cowboys store in Malibu, said it shook long and hard enough that he wondered if it was going to grow to become a big one. So he ran out to the street.

“I work in a shop with surfboards hanging from the ceiling, so I’m not going to go out from a surf board bonking me on top of my head. I’d rather run out,” he said.

At Malibu Village Books, near Malibu Lagoon State Beach, customers and staff hesitated as the floor shook.

“We definitely did feel it here,” bookseller Emma Carroll told the Los Angeles Times. “But we are all OK.”

She said a few books fell off the shelves, but “nothing too bad.”

Elizabeth Ackerman was working from home in her family’s apartment in the San Fernando Valley when the quake hit.

The communications specialist was doing some magazine editing when she felt “a sharp shock, like the jolt of a roller coaster car at the beginning of a ride,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The couch felt like it moved under her, she told The Associated Press in a phone interview, as the window blinds shook and a birthday banner for her 14-year-old son swung on the wall. She dove under her dining table just in case the shaking continued.

The quake was not related to a 5.7-magnitude shock that hit Hawaii’s Big Island on Friday, according to Jones.

Friday is the 53rd anniversary of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which was recorded as magnitude 6.6. Also known as the Sylmar earthquake, it killed 64 people and caused over $500 million in damage.