Estimated 4.4 earthquake strikes Los Angeles area

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck 5.6 miles from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood at 06:25 a.m. local time, US officials said.

The quake has been strongly felt near Los Angeles rattling nerves but so far causing no major damage or injury or deaths

It was the strongest earthquake in Los Angeles since the last aftershocks from the 1994 Northridge quake, a government scientist said.

Dr. Lucy Jones of the US Geological Survey (USGS) told the local CBS broadcaster there was a 5% chance another strong quake would strike within the next three days.

USGS seismologist Robert Graves said it was unusual for a quake of that magnitude to strike a large population centre.

“This is reminder we live in earthquake country,” he said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, though many Los Angeles area residents said the quake had frightened them out of bed.

The San Andreas fault, on the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate, runs directly through California, and the western US state has long braced for a devastating quake.

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