Mother Nature delivered a one-two blow to Southern California on Sunday as the region was pummeled by its first tropical cyclone in decades and an earthquake in Ventura County caused widespread trembling.
Residents of Southern California were surprised by the magnitude-5.1 earthquake at 2:41 p.m., but they had already readied themselves for Hurricane Hilary’s aftermath, which had already brought hours of continuous rain during the region’s driest month of the year.
There were at least a dozen aftershocks that were at least magnitude 3.0. Around four miles southeast of Ojai, approximately 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles, was where the earthquake’s epicenter was located.
There have also been reports of shaking in other places, including Malibu, Porter Ranch, Manhattan Beach, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, and Santa Barbara.
The tweet below verifies the news:
Magnitude-5.1 #earthquake in #Ventura County shakes parts of Southern #California. Several aftershocks greater than magnitude-3.0 followed an earthquake near #Ojai, about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles on the same day a tropical storm hit Southern California for the first time… pic.twitter.com/Jj1hm92ZBH
— GAROWE ONLINE (@GaroweOnline) August 21, 2023
Security cameras in Ojai captured images and the unsettling sound of shaking at the Tres Hermanas restaurant. A little picturesque town called Ojai, which is located 12 miles north of Ventura on the edge of the Los Padres National Forest, has a bustling downtown village area with pubs, shops, and art galleries.
No serious damage was immediately reported. Aerial inspections of Lake Casitas Dam, Matilija Dam, and the city of Ojai by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department revealed no signs of damage.
An aerial inspection of Lake Casitas Dam, Matilija Dam and the City of Ojai were completed by the Ventura County Aviation Unit with no issues to report.
— Ventura County Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) August 20, 2023
All 106 neighborhood fire stations in Los Angeles conducted assessments of the damage as the city fire department switched into earthquake operation mode. Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist, noted that it is intriguing that it is located there.
Yes, we just had an earthquake. It looks like it was preceded by a small foreshock sequence(largest M2.5) that began Saturday morning https://t.co/xeajLOcUtW
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) August 20, 2023
This is the first time a 5 has occurred in this specific spot since 1932, much alone within the Ventura basin. According to Jones, an earthquake of a magnitude of 5.1 was registered in 1941, west of Sunday’s tremor. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake left some aftershocks in the region’s east.
You are welcome to check out the following sources for further information regarding the most recent earthquake:
- Navigating Earthquake Panic: Dr. Lucy Jones Discredits San Diego Prediction
- 4.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Parkfield, California
Jones said that there will likely be further aftershocks in the days ahead. Following the early afternoon earthquake, the hashtag #hurriquake soon became popular on X. The Los Angeles region was slammed by an unusual tropical cyclone for the first time in decades at the same time as the earthquake.
The majority of Los Angeles County is under a flash flood warning, and Southern California is under a tropical storm warning for the first time ever. Rain is forecast through Sunday night.
Since Sept. 25, 1939, when a system lost its hurricane designation shortly before making landfall in Long Beach, no tropical storm has ever made landfall in Southern California. The effects were devastating.
The Ventura County earthquake and a flash flood warning were both urgent back-to-back emergency messages that millions of people in Southern California got on their phones on Sunday.
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