Some Residents Allowed Home After Magnitude-5.1 Earthquake

Some Southern California residents were allowed back home Saturday evening following  a magnitude-5.1 earthquake shook La Habra Friday night. 

On Saturday evening, 73 people were displaced and 26 structures were red-tagged after the strong temblor that was felt as far away as Kern and San Diego counties, according to the Fullerton Police Department.

Earlier in the day, the number was as high as 83.

At least 20 apartment units in the 2700 block of Associated Road and three homes in the 2900 block of Juanita Place were red-tagged after structural engineers found major cracks in the foundation. Up to 50 people were forced to leave.

They were allowed back home on Saturday night.

"Things came out of cabinets, the kitchen floor was covered in glass," said Judy Guarienti, a Fullerton resident of 35 years.

Nearly all 400 homes within the Coyote Hills Estates in Fullerton sustained earthquake damage, according to homeowners association officials. 

No injuries were reported as a result of the quake.

The cities of La Habra, Fullerton and Brea will consider declaring a state of emergency to be eligible for emergency funds and low-interest loans, according to La Habra City Councilman James Gomez.

About 2:30 p.m. Saturday, a 4.1-magnitude earthquake struck about four miles northeast of La Habra in the Rowland Heights area, the USGS said.

The American Red Cross opened a shelter for La Habra residents at the La Habra Community Center located at 101 W. La Habra Blvd. Thirty-eight people -- many of whom live in the evacuated apartment complex -- spent the night in the shelter. The shelter was closed Saturday afternoon.

Hundreds of others were affected Saturday morning as Southern California Edison reported that 34 customers in La Habra Heights and 792 customers in Buena Park were without power. Power was restored to all customers by Sunday morning.

Fire officials reported fixing several small water main breaks and gas leaks in La Habra, Fullerton and La Mirada. Several stores in the area had items fall of the shelves, creating a mess for employees and customers.

Fullerton resident Daniel Taylor told NBC4 via email everything fell down in his home.

"I felt both quakes. The second quake hit really hard, it was a hard and fast quake," he said. "My 100-gallon fish tank went down. Water damage everywhere from the tank. My water pipes under my sink cracked."

Police and firefighters were expected to conduct a citywide damage assessment in Fullerton at 8 a.m. Saturday, officials said.

The temblor was first reported just after 9 p.m. as a magnitude-5.3 but it was downgraded within 30 minutes. More than 100 aftershocks were reported as of Saturday morning, said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey.

A magnitude-3.6 aftershock struck around 1:30 a.m. A magnitude-3.4 aftershock struck in La Habra Saturday morning around 9:02 a.m.

No significant damage was reported, but aftershocks were widely felt throughout the Los Angeles area.

The earthquake was probably 10 times larger than the March 17 magnitude-4.4 quake near Encino in terms of energy released, Caltech's Lucy Jones said.

La Habra resident Kathleen Navarro described a chaotic scene at Wal-Mart when the shaking began.

"Everything started shaking, my granddaughter fell to the floor, spaghetti sauce fell on us, all the bottles started coming off the sheleves," Navarro said. "We freaked out."

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