LA-area earthquake prompts fault concerns

LOS ANGELES, May 18 (UPI) -- Seismologists say they are concerned the 4.7-magnitude earthquake that shook the Los Angeles area may have erupted along the Newport-Inglewood fault.

The U.S. Geological Survey said details regarding Sunday's quake appear to be consistent with activity at the fault line, which experts have predicted could be responsible for a large earthquake one day, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

"The initial focal mechanism is consistent with a slip on the Newport-Inglewood fault, which was the source of the damaging 1933 Long Beach earthquake," the agency said in a statement. "Two of the early aftershocks, however, are west of the Newport-Inglewood fault trend. Later aftershocks will help to define the fault plane that ruptured."

The fault runs from the coastline of Orange County, Calif., to West Los Angeles and is thought to be capable of creating an earthquake in a 7-magnitude range, the Times said.

Sunday's quake was centered near Lennox, a community east of the Los Angeles International Airport. The Geological Survey said the quake originated 8.4 miles below the earth's surface.