A magnitude 3.6 earthquake centered in Granada Hills struck at 11:41 p.m. Tuesday, causing light shaking throughout the San Fernando Valley and weaker shaking elsewhere in the L.A. area.

Besides the Valley, shaking could be felt in Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, the Hollywood Hills, downtown L.A., the San Gabriel Valley, Santa Clarita and Ventura County.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said there were no early reports of significant damage or injury, but as a standard precaution officials are patrolling the area with vehicles and helicopters.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in the area of the Van Norman Lakes Reservoir, near the intersection of the 405, 5 and 118 freeways. Van Norman dam was replaced after the magnitude 6.6 Sylmar earthquake in 1971 nearly caused a collapse and forced a sweeping evacuation of 80,000 people; its replacement dam survived the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake of 1994 with no damage.


Many earthquake faults lie underneath this part of the L.A. region, such as strands of the Sierra Madre fault zone.

An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes from 3.0 to 4.0 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a recent three-year data sample. Tuesday night’s earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.3 miles.

Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Even if you didn’t feel this small earthquake, you never know when the “big one” is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.


The first version of this story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published; it was later updated by a Times reporter. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.