My First Earthquake

Earthquake Map

A moderate earthquake occurred at 11:42:15 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, July 29, 2008.The magnitude 5.8 event occurred 3 km (2 miles) SW of Chino Hills, CA.The hypocentral depth is 12 km ( 8 miles).

Magnitude 5.8 - local magnitude (ML)
Time Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:42:15 AM (PDT)Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 18:42:15 (UTC)
Distance from Chino Hills, CA - 3 km (2 miles) SW (235 degrees)Diamond Bar, CA - 8 km (5 miles) SE (127 degrees)Yorba Linda, CA - 9 km (5 miles) NNE (23 degrees)Pomona, CA - 11 km (7 miles) S (178 degrees)Los Angeles Civic Center, CA - 47 km (29 miles) ESE (103 degrees)
Coordinates 33 deg. 57.5 min. N (33.959N), 117 deg. 45.1 min. W (117.752W)
Depth 12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Location Quality Good

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I just lived through my first experience with an earthquake. It was actually pretty scary! I was just sitting at my desk, working away, and then there was this loud noise like thunder and the building started shaking. It seemed like it latest a long time, I really don't have any idea how long it actually lasted! I was trying really hard to remember what I learned back in First grade about earthquakes. Do I stand in an open area, clumb under my desk, stand under a door, run outside and start screaming? I couldn't remember. So I basically sat at my desk, frozen, and then it continued so I went and looked out the window to see if the freeway was shaking, you know like in the movies, but it wasn't. And then it just stopped. Over as soon as it started. The earthquake was 90 miles away from my office, I was kind of surprised that I could feel it here. I did rush home for lunch to make sure our house hadn't fallen into the ocean! And it was still there, our whole neighborhood was still there!