Earthquake of January 28, 1931

Abstract

On January 28, 1931, at 12:50 a.m., P.S.T., occurred an earthquake which was perceptible over a limited area in the southwestern section of the city of Los Angeles. The seismographic amplitudes were only a few millimeters at the Pasadena station, distant twenty-one kilometers. Field investigation showed that the stronger effects, probably nowhere exceeding IV on the Rossi-Forel scale, were confined to an area about one and one-half kilometers in radius, centering at latitude 34°00'N., longitude 180°19'W. This point is near the intersection of Forty-eighth Street and Second Avenue, Los Angeles. The shock was perceptible in most directions only to a distance of about three kilometers from the center given; but to the south and southeast it was felt very slightly to a distance of about ten kilometers.