A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck near the Channel Islands early Thursday afternoon, jolting residents in the Los Angeles area and beyond as Southern California saw its largest quake in more than four years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The temblor hit beneath the Pacific Ocean about 12:29 p.m., at a depth of about 10 miles beneath the surface, USGS reported. It was centered about 41 miles southwest of Ventura and 85 miles west of Los Angeles.
It was produced by offshore faults that "are part of the system that moves Southern California around a bend of the San Andreas fault," seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted....
