Tiny Temblor Possibly Aftershock of 1971 Killer

A small temblor that gently shook the area east of Newhall on Friday afternoon may have been an aftershock of the powerful earthquake that struck the San Fernando Valley in 1971, a Caltech spokesman said.

Friday’s “very small earthquake,” which measured 3.0 on the Richter Scale, was centered 11 miles northeast of the San Fernando Valley, 12 to 14 miles east of Newhall, Caltech spokesman Riley Geary said. It was felt in Glendale and Burbank, but there were no reports of damage or injuries, police and Caltech spokesmen said.

The small temblor was not related to Tuesday’s earthquake that struck the Palm Springs area and measured 5.9, Geary said.

“It may be a distant aftershock of the San Fernando Valley earthquake in 1971,” but further study is needed to come to a conclusion, Geary said. The 1971 quake, centered near Sylmar, measured 6.5 on the Richter scale and killed 65 people.

“We are still getting aftershocks from the San Fernando quake, maybe one or two a year that we might be able to detect,” he said.

An aftershock is generally defined as any temblor that follows an earthquake in the same area, caused by settling in a fault that ruptured in the original quake, he said. “In settling down, other portions of the fault are going to need readjustment.”

“You can get aftershocks for years,” Geary said. “We’re still getting aftershocks from the Kern County earthquake of 1952,” which measured 7.7.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Sandy Crawford said the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station, which patrols the region where the quake was centered, received no calls about Friday’s temblor.

“If we did have one, it must not have been big enough to generate anything,” she said.