Quakes Shake LA, Kill 2 in Costa Rica

2 girls dead in landslide; no damage in Calif.

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 9, 2009 7:53 AM CST

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Quakes Shake LA, Kill 2 in Costa Rica — A man makes his way across a landslide caused by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake near Fraijanes, some 25 miles northwest of San Jose,Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake shook Southern California last night, leaving no reported damage—but Costa Rica didn’t fare as well in a 6.1 magnitude shake-up that killed two girls. A 7-year-old and a 9-year-old died in a landslide that destroyed their home, CNN reports. Some 1,000 tourists were stranded in one town. “We have had more than 600 aftershocks in the past three hours,” said a seismologist.

The Southern California quake was felt in Los Angeles and Orange County, but didn’t reach San Diego, the Los Angeles Times reports. “We heard rumbling noise before the shock waves hit our home in Ontario,” one person posted online. “We felt the jolt, whatever time it came in, but we haven’t had any reports of damages yet,” said a local fire captain.
(More earthquake stories.)

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