Myth or fact? The 5.4 Earthquake in LA today?

Question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeCgqzWmlIk

This video of CNN supposedly shows footage of "extreme damage" in the LA area.

My friend told me, the only thing that broke was his glass alarm clock that fell off of the dresser.

What gives?

Is the video telling the truth?

Answer 1

fact

Answer 2

it really depends on where your friend lives in California - if he doesn't live near the epicentre of the quake, it was quite minor. CNEWS also pegs most of the damage as minor :)

LOS ANGELES - The strongest earthquake to strike a populated area of Southern California in more than a decade rattled windows and chandeliers, made buildings sway and sent people running into the streets on Tuesday. But there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage.

The 5.4-magnitude quake - considered moderate - was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and as far east as Las Vegas, 370 kilometres away. Nearly 30 aftershocks quickly followed, the largest estimated at 3.8.

The quake was centred 47 kilometres southeast of downtown Los Angeles near Chino Hills, a San Bernardino County city of 80,000 built mostly in the early 1990s with the latest in earthquake-resistant technology.

Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds, leading to the evacuation of some offices.

"I'm still shaking. My knees are wobbling. I thought the building might collapse," said Rosana Martinez, 50, an employee of California National Bank in downtown Los Angeles.

As strong as it felt, Tuesday's quake was far less powerful than the deadly magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake that topped bridges and buildings on Jan. 17, 1994. That was the last damaging temblor in Southern California, though not the biggest. A 7.1 quake struck the desert in 1999.

"The most interesting thing to us about this earthquake so far is it is the first one we've had in a populated area for quite a long time and people have forgotten what earthquakes feel like," said seismologist Kate Hutton at the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena. "We should probably look at it as an earthquake drill. I mean it's a drill for the Big One that will be coming some day."

Disneyland visitor Clint Hendrickson, 32, said he was in the Golden Horseshoe theatre watching a show when the temblor hit.

"The ground moved and the chandelier started shaking," he said. "We are from Texas and we thought it was part of the show, until people started yelling, 'Get under the tables!"'

The quake interrupted a meeting of the Los Angeles City Council, causing the 27-storey City Hall to sway just as Councilman Dennis Zine was criticizing a plan to increase trash fees.

"And there goes the earthquake - earthquake, earthquake, earthquake!" said Zine, as members of the audience began to cry out. "The building is rolling!"

Merchandise toppled from store shelves and bricks fell from walls of old-style buildings.

California's Office of Emergency Services received scattered reports of minor infrastructure damage, including broken water mains and gas lines.

"Nothing serious enough to be an immediate threat to lives, but there is some disruption to utility service," spokesman Kelly Huston said. The damage was in the greater Los Angeles area.

Minor structural damage was reported throughout Los Angeles, along with five minor injuries and people stuck in elevators, said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, serving as acting mayor. She said there was flooding in one department store.

The California Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol were assessing freeways to check for damage. Traffic appeared to be flowing easily, however.

"We have no reported damages or cracks to structures," said Caltrans spokeswoman Maria Raptis.

The jolt caused a fire but no injuries at a Southern California Edison electrical substation in La Habra, about 20 kilometres southwest of the epicentre, spokesman Paul Klein said. Damage there and to other equipment led to some power outages in Chino Hills, Chino, Diamond Bar and Pomona, he said.

Near the epicentre, all the customers of a Chino Hills Starbucks ran outside and bags of coffee beans fell off shelves, said worker Jamie Saleh, 24.

"It was very, very strong. It was rolling and ... there wasn't a pause. it came on really strong and just kept going."

Chino Hills was incorporated in 1991, so much of the construction is newer and built to modern safety standards, said city spokeswoman Denise Cattern. She said there were no reports of harm in the city of 80,000, although cellphone service in the area was disrupted. The biggest employer in town, the school district, is out of session.

"At this point, the biggest impact we can report is getting through on cellphones. ... And a few little rattled nerves," Cattern said.

"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles.

In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending a conference at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.

Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, "First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor."

Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but "that was one of the worst ones."

Answer 3

Why on earth would anyone want to fake anything as irrelevant as an earthquare in S. California?

Answer 4

k, as usual CNN is exaggerating.  There were very minor damages to Las Angeles today during the earthquake.

Answer 5

HAHAHA

thats not CNN

and thats a false picture

no structural damages were reported and no injuries.

youtube users sometimes makes those for fun..

kinna stupid

no one was hurt.

Answer 6

there are many reason why your friend's house didn't fall. engineering. maybe they live away from where the earthquake earthquaked. soil may be soft...

and that video. that's one freaking picture. how do u even know that's a picture of LA?

Answer 7

5.8?

Answer 8

I live here in Los Angeles. There was an earthquake? If you look at the jacket's in the photo it is no where in LA county.

Answer 9

Yeah it was all over the news. I was scared cause my uncle lives around there

Answer 10

It is a fact that yes in deed there was an earthquake today! Jay Leno even mentioned it just a few minutes ago!!! Some parts were affected worse than others, a city council meeting was going on at the time the news said too.

Answer 11

It was a mild Earthquake for most of L.A., probably moderate for those closer to the epicenter.

However, California has the strictest building codes in the world. That same Earthquake in an area where things are build out of stone or mudbrick would have been devastated.

The vast majority of earthquake deaths worldwide are preventable by utilizing more flexible building materials and better construction techniques.

Answer 12

r u sure? coz there weren't any significant damage done by the earthquake...maybe your friend just got it wrong.. maybe the news just compared the situation today to what has happened last 1994.. so they flash the the 1994 videos... or maybe that footage was taken from aplace close enough at the epicernter ..

thats the only rational explanation i can give..but if in case cnn did it then its a huge media exageration!

Answer 13

fact i saw it on da news

Answer 14

Thanks for the Rick roll video. But from what I hear Chino Hills got it bad but LA didn't get it as bad. Just a minor jolt for about 15 seconds and that was it not a whole lot of damage. Only person I heard who suffered a bad injury was someone in Palm Springs.

Answer 15

I live closer to the center of the earthquake than LA and the only thing that happened in our house was our picture frames shook and tilted. extreme danger...no.

Answer 16

yes. in certain areas from what i hear it was bad but not as bad in others.

Answer 17

For reference, a 5.6 earthquake hit Newcastle (Australia) and wreaked havoc.

A 5.4 in an earthquake-prone area (such as LA) shouldn't cause too much concern.  Whereas a quake of that magnitude in an area not designed/built to withstand such movement could justify the claim of "extreme damage".  

I'd suggest you need to get some perspective as to where the footage was taken from.

Answer 18

A moderate earthquake DID shake building as well as nerved in Cailifornia today.

Looks like all are safe.

Answer 19

yes in fact there were damage in some areas