Strong earthquake hits metro Los Angeles

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 rattled the Los Angeles area Friday afternoon, shaking buildings and rattling the nerves of millions of people across Southern California.

The quake, which struck at 1:47 p.m., was centered roughly 6 miles west of Malibu in the Santa Monica Mountains at a depth of five and a half miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A USGS shockwave map shows the quake was felt across much of Southern California, including Ventura, Riverside, Orange, and Santa Barbara counties.

The Los Angeles Fire Department active its Earthquake Mode, which involves crews from all 106 fire stations surveying critical infrastructure, including freeway overpasses, apartment buildings, dams, power lines and large areas of assembly, such as Dodger Stadium.

There were no immediate reports of significant damage, and no tsunami warning was triggered.

The 4.6 temblor was followed by a series of aftershocks registering 3.0 in magnitude or less.

Longtime Malibu resident Ted Vail described what he felt. 

“Back-and-forth, back-and-forth,” he told KTLA. “I was about ready to head outside to get out of the house because I thought things were going to start crashing down.”

This is a developing story. Stay with KTLA 5 News for updates.