Southern California was rattled Thursday by a magnitude 5.3 earthquake that struck near the Channel Islands.
The quake was the strongest in Southern California in several years, jangling some nerves but causing no major damage because it occurred offshore in the Pacific Ocean and not on land.
"A 5.3 could be damaging if it was right under our feet," said John Vidale, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC. "It's right on the edge of being an earthquake that could be dangerous. It's a reminder that we need to be ready in the future."
The temblor occurred just before 12:30 p.m. and was centered south of Santa Cruz Island. It was felt as far away as Bakersfield, Palmdale and the city of Orange, according to witnesses and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Earthquake early-warning system gave heads-up before 5.3 magnitude temblor hit L.A. area »
The L.A. area feels an earthquake of this magnitude on average about once a year, Vidale said.
There is a 1-in-20 chance that Thursday's quake will lead to a larger one in the next few weeks, he said. But, more than likely, smaller aftershocks that may not even be felt will follow, he said.
The quake was too small and far away from the coast to trigger any tsunami concerns.
"It would never make a wave that you could see," Vidale said.
But it was large enough to active the state's developing earthquake early-warning system.
Vidale said he and colleagues at USC heard beeping 10 to 15 seconds before the quake's shaking reached their campus.
"We all felt it pretty well. It was small and distinct," he said. "We heard the warning go off and then we heard the shaking."
The early-warning system is under development by the USGS and is available only to a limited array of testers, but it is expected that more people will be eligible to test the system later this year.
One person said on Twitter that the warning gave her more than half a minute to prepare.
"I had 34 seconds warning — enough time to drop, cover, and hold on, which I would have done if I knew shaking was going to be strong," Alissa Walker wrote.
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