3.2 Earthquake Rattles Downtown
A magnitude 3.2 earthquake rattled the Los Angeles area at 1:13 p.m. Wednesday, shaking high-rises downtown and causing noticeable shaking in Glendale, Burbank, Hollywood and other nearby communities.
There were no reports of damage or injuries.
Caltech seismologist Kerry Sieh said that the epicenter of the temblor was near the intersection of the Glendale and Golden State freeways, and that it occurred on the north side of the Elysian Park fault zone.
Sieh and other seismologists recently reported that the Elysian Park fault structure was capable of generating a quake in the magnitude 6.5 to 6.8, but only once every 1,000 to 3,000 years. They said they cannot be certain when it last had such a large rupture.
A different segment of the fault zone was believed by scientists to be involved in the magnitude 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake of Oct. 1, 1987, which caused several deaths on the Eastside.
Sieh said Wednesday’s quake was about eight miles under the surface and was not an aftershock of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
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