Fillmore Rattled by Magnitude 3.1 Quake

A small earthquake rattled the Ventura County town of Fillmore shortly before noon Friday, but there were no reports of injury and damage was minor.

The temblor had a magnitude of 3.1, according to Caltech, and was centered nine miles northwest of the small Santa Clara Valley city, which was devastated in the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994.

The Northridge quake caused $250 million in damage in Fillmore and rendered 33 businesses, 80 homes and 117 mobile homes uninhabitable. The temblor was especially hard on the city’s turn-of-the-century downtown, crumbling a number of the red brick buildings in the commercial core.

Residents said Friday that they always think of the Northridge quake whenever the ground shakes.

At Patterson Hardware, the minor quake shook just long enough to break a window and send items rolling off shelves.

“Our store got shook up pretty good, but nobody was hurt,” owner Harvey Patterson said. “It was a pretty good jolt.”

Fillmore Fire Chief Pete Egedi, a Fillmore firefighter when the Northridge quake struck, said he’s always relieved when the ground stops shaking.

“I feel everything since the ’94 earthquake,” he said. “You’re always waiting to see if it gets any bigger, and you’re really glad when it doesn’t.”