Aftershock of Northridge Quake Jolts Area

A magnitude 3.7 aftershock of the 1994 Northridge earthquake rattled the Simi and San Fernando valleys Friday afternoon, Caltech seismologists reported.

The 2:02 p.m. temblor was centered on the Los Angeles-Ventura county line, five miles northeast of Simi Valley.

It occurred at a depth of nine miles. The epicenter was about two miles south of where a spasm of potent aftershocks, ranging up to 5.0, occurred just over a year ago, on April 26-27, 1997.

No damage was reported done by the latest jolt, one of more than 14,000 that have followed the Northridge quake. The frequency of the temblors has been decreasing, however, year by year.

Like the Northridge quake, Friday’s temblor was of the thrust variety, in which the ground moves vertically.

It was lightly felt by some as far away as the Los Feliz district in Los Angeles, but was most noticeable in Simi Valley, although even there some residents said they did not feel it.

“A couple of our customers felt it, but none of us felt a thing,” said Clint Artran, a grocery clerk at Vons in Simi Valley. At Simi Valley police headquarters, Lt. Rex Jones said, “We had one call from someone who wanted to know if we’d felt it. And it was news to me.”

But Terry Jump, a resident of nearby Newbury Park, said the quake jolted her mobile home. “It shook pretty good. I have pictures on the wall that are crooked,” she said.

Since last year’s aftershocks, seismic activity in Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley has trailed off rather sharply, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones said Friday. “We had one 3.5 last May and three in the magnitude 3 ranges in January,” Jones said. “This is the first magnitude 3 in three months, the last one being Jan. 30.”