Earthquake rattles SoCal nerves, little damage reported

Earthquake rattles SoCal nerves, little damage reported Southern California city officials praised stringent building codes for relatively little damage occurring during a strong 5.4 earthquake that rattled through the area Wednesday.
   Building inspectors fanned out immediately after the 11:42 a.m. quake, finding little or no damage to the region's infrastructure.
   Some minor damage to older buildings was reported near the epicenter, about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in Chino Hills, but the region's bridges, roads and ports survived apparently unscathed.
   Power was knocked out to nearly 5,000 people near the epicenter but quickly restored. Several instances of broken gas mains were also reported, but no fires or further damage resulted.
   The Southern California Marine Exchange, which monitors vessel traffic in an out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, told American Shipper shortly after the quake hit that there were no reports of damage at the ports.
   The Port of Long Beach Administration building was evacuated as a precaution following the quake. Built in late 1950s, the seven-story structure does not meet current earthquake building standards, according to city inspectors. However, no damage was reported.
   There were no reports of damage at the neighboring Los Angeles port.