OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:00 PM – Sunday, August 20, 2023
As residents in Southern California braced for a tropical summer storm on Sunday afternoon, they were not expecting to also be hit with a magnitude 5.1 earthquake on the same day.
The quake was initially reported from other sources as having a magnitude of 5.5.
According to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) statistics, the earthquake’s epicenter was near Ojai, between Santa Barbara and Ventura, and it occurred along the Sisar fault line.
The Ventura County Sheriff reported on social media that there were no early reports of damage.
Thanks to a USGS program that allows residents to self-report their experiences, shaking was noted throughout Los Angeles and adjacent regions. The tremor reportedly felt like a slow roll roughly 50 miles distant in Valencia, lasting around 20 seconds.
Residents in the Hollywood neighborhood also noted a slow-rolling effect.
The original tremor was followed by at least two aftershocks, measuring 3.1 and 3.6.
Dr. Lucy Jones, an earthquake expert, said it appeared to have been preceded by a modest foreshock series that started on Saturday morning.
It was highlighted that seismic reports from the USGS are preliminary and are occasionally revised.
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