An earthquake hit Los Angeles on May 1 2009. The seismic scale reading was 4.4. The tremors of the earthquake was felt by many residents of Los Angeles-valley. However Southland residents did not feel it.

The earthquake was felt just about after 6 in the evening. It had been earlier reported on LALATE. The reason that the quake could have been felt by more residents is that the nominal depth was only about 6 KM below the surface of the earth. However that did not happen, and the tremors were not really felt widely. The quake, which was centered 6 km SW of the Westlake Village, was felt locally and not widely.

The USGS data is as follows:

Magnitude 4.4 - local magnitude (ML) Time Friday, May 1, 2009 at 6:11:13 PM (PDT) Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 1:11:13 (UTC) Distance from Westlake Village, CA - 9 km (6 miles) SW (224 degrees) Thousand Oaks, CA - 12 km (7 miles) S (186 degrees) Malibu, CA - 12 km (7 miles) WNW (300 degrees) Casa Conejo, CA - 13 km (8 miles) SSE (156 degrees) Los Angeles Civic Center, CA - 59 km (37 miles) W (273 degrees) Coordinates 34 deg. 5.0 min. N (34.083N), 118 deg. 53.3 min. W (118.889W) Depth 9 km (5.6 miles)

It was surely one of the most Twittered quake till date. It wasnt felt by the people of LALATE in Santa Monica. A L.A. resident, Jonathan Knight, whose exact location is not known, twittered that he felt the quake, but only mildly:

“Relieved to find out it was an earthquake here. I thought it was the Metamucil kicking in. I knew I felt a small rumble!”

Celebrities such as Heidi Montag and Paula Abdul twittered right through the quake with no comments at all about feeling any tremors.