LOS ANGELES, CA - A strong 5.8 (Richter Scale) earthquake shook Southern California this morning at 11:42 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations.Tesco operates over half of its 63 small-format Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery stores in Southern California, with the remaining half of its stores located in the Las Vegas Metropolitan region in Nevada and in the Phoenix region in Arizona.
There are no reports yet if supermarkets such as Fresh & Easy have lost product from the goods' tumbling off shelves as often happens in earthquakes of this magnitude.
The jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas, according to a report from the Associated Press, sighting a U.S. Geological Survey spokesperson.
Preliminary information from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake at magnitude 5.8, centered 29 miles east-southeast of downtown Los Angeles near Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.
Tesco's huge 850,000 square foot Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market distribution center is located in Riverside County, which is next door to San Bernardino County, where the earthquake was centered.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told the Associated Press there were no immediate reports of damage or injury in Los Angeles. San Bernardino County fire dispatch also had no immediate reports of damage.
The quake struck just 25 minutes ago, at 11:42 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds. It's still too early after the earthquake to determine fully what possible damage the tumbler might have caused.
Workers quickly evacuated some office buildings.
"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles, told the Associated Press.
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4 comments:
I was in a Downtown high rise (34th floor). Quite a bit of rollin' went on up here. Nothing got knocked off anyone's table or anything though.
It shook hard here, right near San Bernardino. Was at a convenience store getting gas when it hit. The store had some broken glass but not much damage.
The earthquake epicenter was in Chino Hills, not San Bernardino. It was most strongly felt in places like Brea and Walnut which are inland Orange County. There was a photo in the LA Times of merchandise spilled from shelves in a Diamond Bar K Mart.
Here are some updates on the quake:
Bloomberg:
`Moderate' Los Angeles Quake Highlights Need for Preparation
Link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a2VTtLUF_Zdw&refer=us
The Press-Enterprise:
Quake damage, injuries minor; experts credit seismic safety improvements
Link:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_quake30.44c7992.html
Lots of video at the link above
Los Angeles Times:
Earthquakes and animals
Link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2008/07/whole-lotta-sha.html
Los Angeles Times: Earthquake reader comments blog
Link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comments_blog/2008/07/los-angeles-ear.html
Yes, the epicenter of the quake was Chino Hills. We published our report about 20 minutes after it hit. Initial reports from the U.S. Geological Dept. placed the epicenter in San Bernardino County. It later revised it to be specifically Chino Hills. Such revised initial reports are almost always the case in earthquakes as additional information comes in, as well as sceintitsts having time to conduct analysis.
More Earthquake links:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=Los+Angeles+earthquake
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