A small offshore earthquake rattled Santa Monica Bay communities Saturday, USGS scientists confirmed.
The magnitude 3.5 quake was reported at 8:33 a.m. on the ocean
floor about 10 miles off Point Palos Verdes, in the southern Santa
Monica Bay. Preliminary data showed it to have been centered 5 miles
beneath the Earth's surface.
The quake was in an area bisected by an offshore extension of
the Palos Verdes Fault. But a Caltech spokeswoman said it would take
some study to see if the quake was on that fault, however.
USGS scientist Bob Dollar placed the exact epicenter 11 miles
west-southwest of Hermosa Beach, and 11 miles west-northwest of Palos
Verdes Estates. That location is 25 miles southwest of the Los Angeles
Civic Center.
About 500 people in 81 ZIP codes reported whether they felt the earthquake on the USGS Community Internet Intensity Map. People as far north as Camarillo and Northridge and as far south as Irvine reported feeling "weak" shaking.
