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Magnitude 4.6 earthquake rattles South California, experts warn of a 50 percent chance of aftershocks

As earthquake tremors were felt across South California, Twitter came alive with residents marking themselves safe and wondering what next

Amid the ongoing pandemic and wildfires, California seems to have been hit with another new crisis- earthquake. An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 hit South California near South El Monte, on Friday, September 18 night. Although there have been no reports of serious damages or loss of lives, these tremors were felt all the way up to Inland Empire. According to the US Geological Service (USGC), the quake struck less than two miles west-southwest of South El Monte at 11:38 pm, with a depth of about 10 miles.

Seismologist Dr Lucy Jones pointed out how the quake was similar in type and location to the 1987 Whittier-Narrows quake that killed three people. Although this was much smaller in comparison. Jones shares that she felt it all the way in Pasadena and woke up to it. She revealed that there were at least two aftershocks, that measured 2.1 and 1.6. According to her, there is a 5% chance that these quakes were a foreshock to a larger quake. She also said that there was about a 50% chance of further small aftershocks within the next 24 hours.

According to Los Angeles Times, in the past 10 days, there has been another earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered in South California. An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.0 and 5.0 occur per year in the Greater Los Angeles area, according to a recent three-year data sample.The current earthquake occurred less than a mile from South San Gabriel, less than a mile from Montebello, less than a mile from South El Monte and 1 mile from San Gabriel.

As soon as the news of the earthquake broke, people took to Twitter to declare their safety while expressing their disbelief at the current situation. A user tweeted, "California is facing wildfires, record braking hear waves, global pandemic and now earthquake! #earthquake." Another user wrote, "LA #earthquake joining everything else that's gone wrong in 2020 ..." "God watching us from above just seeing how much we can take #earthquake," commented a user.

Many users also began tweeting asking everyone to stay safe during these uncertain times. A user expressed, "Wow. We’re all awake now. I don’t think you could sleep through that. In our house stuff flew off the shelves, some broken glass. Be safe everyone! And if you still don’t have an earthquake kit or other safety precautions in place, please make it a priority! #earthquake." Another user wrote, "Very strong #earthquake here in LA just now. Because, of course. Hope everyone is safe!."