A 3.9-magnitude earthquake caused mild shaking in and near the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles late Sunday, the United States Geological Survey said.
The quake struck after 10 p.m. local time in Burbank, a city in Los Angeles County, at a depth of about nine miles. Little to no damage was expected, the agency said on its website.
The epicenter was just over a mile east-southeast of North Hollywood, and a few miles north of the Dolby Theater, the venue for the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
It has been more than three decades since California suffered a catastrophic earthquake. Scientists say this period of seismic silence will inevitably be shattered by an overdue “Big One.”
For some Los Angeles area residents, a smattering of smallish earthquakes last year amplified the underlying dread that a major one might be around the corner. Others didn’t pay much attention.