Report of Buried Body Turns Out to Be Earthquake Device

RESEDA — Police responding to reports of a body buried along a bank of the Los Angeles River on Sunday instead unearthed seismic monitoring equipment.

A man called the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division about 3:15 p.m. after a man and a woman were seen burying an object inside the boundaries of the Los Angeles River, said LAPD Sgt. George Wright.

Officers went to the site near Tampa Avenue and Victory Boulevard where they found two half-buried bags along a dirt embankment above the concrete river channel, Wright said.

When they cut one of the bags open, officers saw what appeared to be a plastic box, and, thinking it was an explosive, called in the bomb squad, Wright said.

But there was no bomb. And after hauling one of the seismographs out of the ground, police booked the devices into evidence at the West Valley Station.

“When we think we have a bomb, we call in the bomb squad,” Wright said. “Whatever it is, we deal with it if it’s not a bomb.”

Hundreds of ground motion sensors have been placed throughout Southern California by the U.S. Geological Survey to detect and measure ground motion during earthquakes. It is likely that the pair reported by the witness were associated with the program, Wright said.

Wright said the seismograph included an 800 number and that officers called the manufacturer.

“We assume they will come pick it up,” he said.