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5.6 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Southern California

Aired June 12, 2005 - 11:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Just over 10 minutes ago, a moderate earthquake was felt in Southern California, measuring 5.6 magnitude. Our Sara Weisfeldt, who is an assignment editor in our L.A. Bureau was in the bureau at the time of this earthquake being felt, and she's on the phone with us now to give us a sense as to what you felt there, Sarah.
SARA WEISFELDT, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Hi. I was sitting in the edit room editing a piece for CNN air, and I all of a sudden felt a little bit dizzy and then realized that -- that the room was shaking, and the glass door to the edit bay, I could -- it sort of rattled a little bit. It wasn't anything enormous that I felt, but it was very unsettling to feel the room moving.

WHITFIELD: Now, folks who live in Southern California get used to tremors and quakes all the time. How does this one measure up, compared to what you've experienced there before?

WEISFELDT: I have never experienced an enormous earthquake. So for me, this one -- this one was kind of big. I felt little shakes before. But this is probably, for me, the biggest shake that I felt.

WHITFIELD: OK. And according to the U.S. Geological Survey, it is being measured, the center of this earthquake being measured 20 miles south of Palm Springs, California, about 62 miles northeast of San Diego. Sara, how many folks were in the bureau, and is there a sense as to whether any items in the bureau were shifted or moved, books falling, anything like that?

WEISFELDT: Nothing -- nothing fell that I could see. In the bureau on the weekends, it's just me and a security guard this early in the morning, so it was just the two of us. And instantly I got a call from him saying "did you feel that?" And then I ran out to the assignment desk and started making some calls on it, and trying to find out some information. We found out that it was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake and we found the location. And for now, that's about it. So I'm going to get on the phone and start finding out what's going on closer to where the epicenter was.

WHITFIELD: All right, it's just a little bit before 9:00 a.m. out on the West Coast right now. This quake taking place at about 8:41 a.m. West Coast time there in Southern California. A 5.6 magnitude earthquake. Of course, we'll be having more on this throughout the day. The U.S. Geological Survey is considering this a moderate earthquake. But here on CNN, we'll be covering it for you throughout the day. We want to go now to "LATE EDITION." Substituting today, John King in for Wolf Blitzer, right after this.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired June 12, 2005 - 11:56   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Just over 10 minutes ago, a moderate earthquake was felt in Southern California, measuring 5.6 magnitude. Our Sara Weisfeldt, who is an assignment editor in our L.A. Bureau was in the bureau at the time of this earthquake being felt, and she's on the phone with us now to give us a sense as to what you felt there, Sarah.
SARA WEISFELDT, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Hi. I was sitting in the edit room editing a piece for CNN air, and I all of a sudden felt a little bit dizzy and then realized that -- that the room was shaking, and the glass door to the edit bay, I could -- it sort of rattled a little bit. It wasn't anything enormous that I felt, but it was very unsettling to feel the room moving.

WHITFIELD: Now, folks who live in Southern California get used to tremors and quakes all the time. How does this one measure up, compared to what you've experienced there before?

WEISFELDT: I have never experienced an enormous earthquake. So for me, this one -- this one was kind of big. I felt little shakes before. But this is probably, for me, the biggest shake that I felt.

WHITFIELD: OK. And according to the U.S. Geological Survey, it is being measured, the center of this earthquake being measured 20 miles south of Palm Springs, California, about 62 miles northeast of San Diego. Sara, how many folks were in the bureau, and is there a sense as to whether any items in the bureau were shifted or moved, books falling, anything like that?

WEISFELDT: Nothing -- nothing fell that I could see. In the bureau on the weekends, it's just me and a security guard this early in the morning, so it was just the two of us. And instantly I got a call from him saying "did you feel that?" And then I ran out to the assignment desk and started making some calls on it, and trying to find out some information. We found out that it was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake and we found the location. And for now, that's about it. So I'm going to get on the phone and start finding out what's going on closer to where the epicenter was.

WHITFIELD: All right, it's just a little bit before 9:00 a.m. out on the West Coast right now. This quake taking place at about 8:41 a.m. West Coast time there in Southern California. A 5.6 magnitude earthquake. Of course, we'll be having more on this throughout the day. The U.S. Geological Survey is considering this a moderate earthquake. But here on CNN, we'll be covering it for you throughout the day. We want to go now to "LATE EDITION." Substituting today, John King in for Wolf Blitzer, right after this.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com