LOS ANGELES, April 5 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit off the Southern California coast on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the shaker was a magnitude-5.0, but it was later upgraded to magnitude-5.3.
The epicenter, with a depth of 16.8 km, was monitored just before 12:30 p.m. local time. The quake centered about 57 kilometers southwest of Channel Islands Beach, California, according to the USGS.
"The offshore faults that produced today's M5.3 quake are part of the system that moves Southern California around a bend of the San Andreas fault," seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)'s seismology lab in Pasadena received a roughly 10-second warning of the quake through the still-under-development early warning system, seismologist Susan Hough was quoted by City News Service as saying.
The Tsunami Warning Center stated that there is no threat of a tsunami from the off-shore quake.
The 5.3-magnitude earthquake that rattled Southern California on Thursday was the strongest in the area several years, scientists said.
The temblor was felt as far away as Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Palmdale and the city of Orange, according to local media reports. Shaking was also reported by residents in areas such as Tarzana, San Dimas, Long Beach, Pomona and Torrance.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Fire officials in Ventura County, close to the epicenter of the quake, also reported no damage from the earthquake.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it went into "earthquake mode," during which it pulls its trucks out of stations and crews begin sweeping neighborhoods to check for damage to "all major areas of concern": such as transportation infrastructures, Dodger Stadium, universities and other large places of assemblage, apartment buildings, dams and power-lines.
Los Angeles police were also making checks of "infrastructure and critical locations."
Officials from various emergency-response agencies said residents should use the quake as a reminder to formulate an escape plan, prepare and earthquake kit for their homes and cars and follow the advice to "drop, cover and hold on" when shaking occurs.
According to a 2015 report by the USGS, the chance of a magnitude 8 or greater earthquake hitting California in the next three decades is 7 percent. In other words, the rate of a magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake is once per 494 years.
Last year, scientists at U.S. space agency NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory calculated a 99.9 percent probability for a magnitude 5 or larger earthquake to strike the greater Los Angeles area between April 1, 2015, and April 1, 2018. This result was disputed by the USGS, which put the probability at 85 percent, which is hardly more reassuring.
"Year of a disaster is unknown, but impacts are very predictable," said seismologist Jones. "You can't change chance of EQ (earthquake) but you can reduce the chance of damage."
