Currently on Drudge:
EARTHQUAKE HITS LOS ANGELES… PRELIM MAG 5.8… FELT IN DOWNTOWN, WEST L.A., SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY.. DEVELOPING…
Earthquake map of California here.
Very preliminary AP report notes, “The late Tuesday morning jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.”
More from CNN:
A magnitude-5.8 earthquake has struck just east of Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake’s epicenter was about 2 miles southwest of Chino Hills and about 5 miles southeast of Diamond Bar, the USGS said. Chino Hills is about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
The center was about 7.6 miles deep. In general, earthquakes centered closer to the Earth’s surface produce stronger shaking and can cause more damage than those further underground.
A 5.8 magnitude quake is considered by the USGS to be “moderate,” which can cause slight damage to buildings and others structures. About 500 can happen globally each year, the survey says.
CNN’s Ed Lavandera was at Disneyland with his family and felt the temblor. He said the shaking lasted about 5 seconds.
More detailed AP report here.
Tim MacMahon of the Dallas Morning News, who’s out in Southern California to follow the Cowboys’ training camp loses it: “EARTHQUAKE!!!”
Update: 12:30 PM PDT: Welcome Instapundit readers.
More from AP:
In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending [a] gang conference at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.
Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, “First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor.”
Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but “that was one of the worst ones.”
Delegates and guests at a cluster of hotels near the Disneyland resort spilled into the streets immediately after the quake.
Update: 2:06 PM PDT News video at Hot Air; Ed Morissey notes that the quake has been revised slightly downward to 5.4 on the Richter Scale, adding:
I’m a native Angeleno, and I know what a 5.4 quake means… mostly nothing. If it had occurred on the Whittier-Newport fault or under LA, it might have caused some damage, but this quake’s epicenter was in Chino Hills–at least 60 miles out of LA to the east. What’s in Chino Hills? Mostly dairies and farms, with a smallish bedroom community. At best, we’re talking about making some cows nauseous.
My Remy Martin 1738 didn’t budge from the shelf during a 5.6 magnitude quake near San Jose last October, though as Duane Patterson suggests, “For those dairy farmers that inhabit much of Chino Hills, plates might make a fine Christmas gift. Yes, the cows are fine, too.”
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