Shallow, Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake Hits Los Angeles Area

A 5.1 earthquake shook the Los Angeles area of Southern California Friday night.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake occurred at 9:09 p.m. and was located one mile east of La Habra, California.

The tremblor was felt throughout Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

There were reports of damage to gas and water lines and power disruption in certain areas near the epicenter, The Los Angeles Times reported. In Anaheim, Disneyland closed some rides as a precaution.

"Tonight's earthquake is the second in two weeks, and reminds us to be prepared," Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles mayor, said in a written statement released about an hour after the shaking stopped, according to Reuters.

The magnitude 5.1 quake was followed by 23 aftershocks, the largest of which came about half an hour after the initial shock and registered at magnitude 3.6, USGS said in a statement.

The temblor was a shallow one, measuring just 1.2 miles deep, according to geologists at the California Institute of Technology. "We have to analyze that to make sure of the exact depth but it is relatively shallow," said Robert Graves of CalTech told Reuters. "Earthquakes in California tend to be deeper than that so it's a little bit anomalous."

USGS said that the earthquake might be related to the Puente Hills thrust fault, which is located in the Los Angeles Basin in California. The active geological fault line was discovered in 1999 by a team of researchers led by Harvard University professor John Shaw. The fault line was linked to the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake.

Research has shown that the Puente Hills thrust fault has suffered four major earthquakes in the past 11,000 years and can cause a major temblor in the future.

"This is the fault that could eat L.A.," seismologist Sue Hough told The Times in 2003. 

The coast of northern California recently experienced a strong quake of magnitude 6.9.