Photo: US Geological Survey
A preliminary 4.3 earthquake shook up Southern California Friday night. According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake was centered less than a mile from West Carson, one mile away from Los Angeles and two miles north of Long Beach. There was no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries.
Accord to the Los Angeles Fire Department, no infrastructure damage has been reported.
The earthquake reportedly occurred at a depth of 9.2 miles.
Seismologist Lucy Jones told KCAL9 it was “a pretty ordinary earthquake'' adding there is around a 5% chance there will be another earthquake in the next day near where Friday's quake struck and a 95% chance there will not be a larger earthquake.
“This size happens on average somewhere in Southern California every couple of months,'' Jones told KCAL9. “When it happens to be in the middle of the Los Angeles basin then a lot more people feel it and it becomes bigger news.''
Power was temporarily knocked out at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Carson. That prompted the refinery burn off excess gases with flaring. However, a spokesman for the refinery told the L.A. Times in an email that the flares were merely a safety precaution and were working as intended.
This is a breaking news story. More details will be added as they become available.