LAKEWOOD : Thuds of 2 Minor Quakes Startle Residents

The two earthquakes in the Lakewood area last week were minor, measuring 2.6 and 2.5 on the Richter scale. But they created resounding thuds, prompting dozens of people to call City Hall and the local sheriff’s station.

“It was so different that people didn’t connect it with an earthquake experience and were wondering what it was,” city spokesman Don Waldie said. “It wasn’t your usual rocking-back-and-forth earthquake. It was more like a bump.”

People near the epicenter of a quake feel more of a jolt, said Caltech seismologist Kate Hutton. They feel more of a rocking motion when the quake is distant, she said. She said both quakes were centered in an area bounded by Bellflower Boulevard, Centralia and South streets and the San Gabriel River. The first quake, measuring 2.6, was at 11:50 p.m. June 21. The 2.5 quake occurred at 8:46 a.m. June 22.

The quakes probably were on small, isolated faults and were probably not precursors of a larger temblor, Hutton said.