LOS ANGELES _ A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was recorded at the Channel Islands on Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quakes was the strongest to occur in Southern California in several years.
The temblor occurred just before 12:30 p.m. local time and was centered south of Santa Cruz Island and was felt as far away as Bakersfield, Palmdale and the city of Orange, according to witnesses and the USGS.
Sgt. Eric Buschow, public information officer for the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, says they have received no reports of significant injuries or damage, or an influx of 911 calls, in time since earthquake struck.
California experiences quakes like this annually, said John Vidale, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California.
There is a 1 in 20 chance that Thursday's quake will lead to a larger one in the next few weeks, he said. But more than likely, smaller aftershocks that may not be felt will follow, he said.
The quake was too small and far away from the coast to trigger any tsunami concerns.
"It would never make a wave that you could see," he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department said they have not received any reports of injuries or damage.
The quake was initially reported as a magnitude 5.0 and upgraded later to 5.3.
While there were no immediate reports of damage, the quake was felt across a wide spectrum of the region and was blunt reminder that California is earthquake country.
The last quake to be felt this widely in the L.A. area was the 4.4 earthquake in Encino in 2014. That quake also shook a wide area and was the largest in the Los Angeles area in four years. That temblor surprised seismologists because it was the strongest to hit directly under the Santa Monica Mountains in the 80 years.
Thursday's quake hit off the coast in the Channel Islands area. A 4.8 magnitude quake in the same area rattled the region in 2013.
The Santa Barbara area is home to a number of earthquake faults, the largest of which is the Santa Ynez fault, which is 80 miles long and runs just north of the city. That fault is believed to be capable of triggering an earthquake as powerful as 7.5.
The great Santa Barbara quake of 1925, recorded at a magnitude 6.8, the temblor destroyed much of Santa Barbara's downtown on State Street, damaged rail lines, caused extensive landslides on bluffs, and was felt as far away as Orange County. It killed 13 people.
