Earthquake Shakes Southern California During Storm

As people across Southern California sheltered from Hurricane Hilary; another natural disaster hit – a magnitude 5.1 earthquake.

Its epicentre was north-west of Los Angeles and #hurriquake was soon trending on social media.

It did not cause major damage, and the hurricane has also since been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said over 100 fire stations were checking buildings for damage.

Ms Bass said in a tweet that there were no initial reports of structural damage caused by the earthquake or any injuries.

Seismologist Dr Lucy Jones said it was “interesting” to have the earthquake near Ojai, and was the “first time we’ve had a five since 1932 in exactly this location, and even within the Ventura basin”.

She warned more aftershocks were likely over the next few days.

The quake hit at the same time as post-tropical cyclone Hilary, which left many residents unsure where they should seek cover.

One of her neighbours ran out of his house in a panic saying he didn’t know where to go and she could hear other people shouting inside their homes as the quake struck.

Another video from inside a supermarket showed items fall from the shelves as the quake struck, as a man ran with his daughter from the shop.