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As California braces for Tropical Storm Hilary, another disaster has reared its head. After getting an unprecedented snow fall in March, the LA area has certainly had a wild ride this year. Now, hours before a rare tropical storm makes landfall, an earthquake has rocked the state.
The once-in-century storm is expected to make landfall tonight and travel across the state and into Nevada. Original projections had the storm making direct impact with the Anaheim area but, as storms often do, Hilary has shifted and will make a direct hit over San Diego instead.
Credit: United States Geological Survey
That doesn’t mean the Los Angeles area is in the clear. Orange County California is expected to get torrential rain. Experts predict a year’s worth of rain could fall in the span of a few hours with this storm. Disneyland will be closing early tonight in an abundance of caution.
As preparations are being made for the storm, an earthquake struck out of nowhere. The epicenter of the storm was in Ojai In Ventura County California. The quake was 5.1 magnitude on the Richter Scale, which measures the intensity of earthquakes. It was followed by several strong aftershocks, including a magnitude 4.0 tremor and other aftershocks reaching 3.0.
Guests at Disneyland report feeling the shaking in their hotel room this afternoon.
This is crazy. I’m about a mile from Disneyland and just felt it in my hotel room.
— Matt DH (@DisneyScoopGuy) August 20, 2023
Luckily no damage was reported from the earthquake. Despite no reports of damage, the Los Angeles County Fire Department jumped into action and activated “earthquake mode” which KTLA reports “which involves all 106 neighborhood fire stations conducting infrastructure surveys in their districts.
Tsunamis are a concern whenever an earthquake strikes, and combined with the potential for flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary that could prove catastrophic for the Los Angeles area. Luckily the US Geological Survey currently does not expect a Tsunami to result from this quake.
Tsunami Info Stmt: M5.3 055mi NW Los Angeles, California 1441PDT Aug 20: Tsunami NOT expected
— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) August 20, 2023
Earthquakes often happen in clusters so the area is on alert for potential “follow-up” quakes. We will be following this situation closely and will bring you any updates as they happen.
