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Talk of the Town

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BREAKING 2pm 7-29-08 CNN: Magnitude 5.4 Quake Rocks Los Angeles: Center Near Chino Hills
Tuesday, Jul 29, 2008 12:26pm

LOS ANGELES, CA From CNN (By: Tom Pace, Talk of the Town) BREAKING: EARTHQUAKE 2:30pm 7-29-08 In a year that Mother Nature has thrown all her fury around the world, Los Angeles, California was rocked by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake Tuesday at 11:42 PT (1:42pm CDST).

CNN reports the quake's center about 2 miles southwest of Chino Hills, & about 5 miles southeast of Diamond Bar, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Chino Hills is about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The USGS says the center of the earthquake 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.

"I can tell you that we had a good-sized shake here in the bureau," said CNN Los Angeles Bureau Chief Pete Janos. "It started slowly. It continued on, shaking the bureau pretty well. ... Right now we're just sort of assessing the situation. Nothing fell off the walls ... but there definitely was a shake."

Janos said he has lived in southern California for about 12 years, and "I can tell you this is probably the best one we have had."

He said the quake "picked up steam. At its height, the building was doing some good swaying back and forth." He estimated the quake lasted no longer than about 20 seconds.

"We could definitely feel it on the third floor," said Kara Finnstrom, who was in Hollywood. "That feeling where you scramble to get under something because you know it's large enough -- you wonder what's going to happen next."