California earthquake: Magnitude 3.7 tremor hits Los Angeles

Light tremors recorded in Long Beach, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and up to Burbank

An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area (Getty Images)

Los Angeles was struck by a magnitude 3.7 earthquake in the early hours of Wednesday morning, sending light tremors across Southern California.

The earthquake hit at 12.03am, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and centred about half a mile southeast of Slauson and La Brea avenues.

Residents across the city were waken by the tremors, which were recorded in Long Beach, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and up to Burbank.

Los Angeles International Airport tweeted that the earthquake had been felt but reported no damage.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said the LA Fire Department had been activated to conduct its routine survey of the city to assess for any damage.

“City teams will continue to monitor,” he added.

Alex Caruso of the LA Lakers and TV host Chrissy Tiegen took to Twitter to comment on the earthquake, as did many others.

“That was the biggest earthquake I’ve experienced since I’ve lived in LA sheesh,” said Mr Caruso.

Ms Teigen tweeted: “I am way to used to earthquakes. think I’ve been through 100 over 3’s, all the way up to 6.5 I think (in a really vulnerable area) – I can’t even imagine anything rougher than the Bali one. But the scale does go higher...bahhhh”

The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the Newport-Inglewood Fault, which has long been considered one of Southern California’s top seismic danger zones, running under some of the region’s most densely populated areas.

An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area, according to recent data.

Wednesday’s quake occurred at a depth of 7.4 miles, USGS said.