Magnitude 5.2 earthquake rattles Southern California

(KTLA) – A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck near Bakersfield, California, on Tuesday evening, sending out shockwaves felt across Southern California.

The quake, which struck at a depth of around 6 miles just after 9 p.m., was centered approximately 7.6 miles west northwest of Mettler in Kern County, nearly 19 miles south of Bakersfield and 89 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Residents in Ventura, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Santa Clarita, Encino, Hollywood, Santa Monica, North Hollywood, Pasadena and Woodland Hills were among those who reported feeling the quake.

Dozens of aftershocks up to magnitude 4.5 took were recorded after the quake, according to Caltech's Seismological Laboratory.

In a news release, officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department said "earthquake mode" had been initiated, prompting all 106 neighborhood fire stations to conduct surveys of the area by land, sea and air.

"No significant infrastructure damage or injuries have been noted within the City of Los Angeles," a second release stated just after 10 p.m. "LAFD Earthquake Mode is now complete."

In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said officials would continue to survey for any impacts. Officials with L.A. Metro also posted to X, saying trains would be running slower "as per our earthquake procedure to check for any damage," but later reported no damage to the system.

Motorists on the southbound 5 Freeway, just south of Grapevine Road, however, were not quite as lucky.

A large boulder that fell into southbound lanes of the 5 Freeway, just south of Grapevine Road, likely as a result of the quake, prompted officers with the California Highway Patrol to close several lanes of the roadway, causing a massive backup.

Prominent Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones said on X that the magnitude 5.2 quake was located at the southern end of the Central Valley near the White Wolf fault that produced a magnitude 7.5 quake in 1952, but that this temblor did not appear to be on that fault.

"Like any quake in SoCal, there's a 5% chance that it will be followed by something bigger," Jones added.