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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Quake Rocks SoCal; Ford Fire Hazard

Aired June 16, 2005 - 17:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER: Happening now, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles. We'll get details of that.
Also, lives destroyed in Zimbabwe: 200,000 people's lives have been upended as a result of brutal, brutal government events happening right now. The pictures will shock you. The world will no longer be able to say we didn't know. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A CNN exclusive: what if your car's parked, ignition off, left alone in the garage, and suddenly erupts in a raging fire? It's happening all across the country to certain Ford vehicles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flames are shooting all the way up to the top of the garage. I just couldn't believe it. I mean, just could not believe it.

BLITZER: A mystery, massive recalls and a major lawsuit: what you need to know in a CNN investigation.

She says high priced lawyers, celebrity defendants and nonstop coverage have hijacked our criminal justice system. As a felony prosecutor, she never lost a trial. As an analyst, she refuses to lose an argument. Is she right this time? I'll speak with CNN's Nancy Grace.

Royal mess: They've crashed the castle and penetrated the palace, now a newspaper says it sneaked a fake bomb into the military academy where Prince Harry is a cadet.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, June 16, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Yet another earthquake out of the West Coast, this time in Southern California. We're told it's a 5.3 magnitude. The epicenter, San Bernardino County in Southern California. We're getting details. Our Los Angeles bureau has felt the earth move inside that bureau in downtown Los Angeles. We'll get details, get extensive coverage this hour on the earthquake that has just, just rattled, rattled Southern California. We're told the earthquake was felt all the way from Los Angeles downtown to San Diego and the southern-most part of California. Once again, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake in California. This coming on the heels only the other day earlier this week, another earthquake off the coast of Northern California. That resulted in a tsunami warning, fortunately, that was not the case. There was no tsunami. But it's certainly rattling people out on the West Coast.

Peter Viles is in Los Angeles. He's joining us now live. What did you feel, first of all Peter, when this earthquake occurred?

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can count me, Wolf, among the rattled. It rattled our newsroom literally. The ceiling shook just a little bit. I felt the floor shake underneath me. I looked around. I just moved to California in the past year, everybody said earthquake, let's go.

What we're hearing is it's a 5.3, which is not a super big earthquake. And we're not hearing any immediate reports of damage. But you definitely felt it here in Los Angeles, or Hollywood rather. And we are told it's been felt as you said from Los Angeles to San Diego. And as we say, the time on this about ten minutes ago, about 1:53, Wolf.

BLITZER: This area, obviously, very widely populated, Southern California. But San Bernardino County which we're told is the epicenter of this 5.3 magnitude earthquake, do you get a sense of -- is this a very rural area or rather urban area?

VILES: We don't know the exact location in that county. But that county does have very heavily populated suburbs and bedroom communities. So, a lot of that county, Wolf, is very heavily populated. But as I say, we don't have an exact location yet in San Bernardino County.

BLITZER: We'll continue to watch the story with you, Peter, get more information as it become available. Once again, another earthquake out in Southern California. This time with a 5.3 magnitude. The Earth was felt to move all the way from Los Angeles down to San Diego. The epicenter, we're told, in San Bernardino County. We'll get back to Peter Viles, get more information on this earthquake.

In the meantime, other news. Hold on. One second. I think we're getting more information right now. Brian Humphrey is joining us on the phone from the fire department in Los Angeles. What do you know, Brian?

BRIAN HUMPHREY, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well Wolf, I'm here at our subterranean command and control center near downtown Los Angeles. And I can tell you it's throughout our nearly 500 square mile jurisdiction throughout the city of Los Angeles. There have been no -- and I do repeat -- no reports of any injury or significant damage.

The earthquake activity which struck approximately 12 minutes ago was felt over a wide area from Ventura County, which is halfway between LA and Santa Barbara and well into the inland empire. Our preliminary -- and I must emphasize, Wolf, preliminary reports are of a magnitude 5.3 event near the community of Yucaipa, which is about 80 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. And as earlier mentioned in your broadcast, a largely suburban community.

But at this time, throughout Los Angeles, all key systems are intact and operational. The fire department remains in a status of readiness. But there are no emergencies reported throughout the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

BLITZER: All right. We'll continue to watch this. So Yucaipa -- when you say this is a suburban area, a bedroom community, what exactly -- are there any major cities out there that potentially could have endured greater damage than Los Angeles, which is, as you point out, considerably removed from the epicenter?

HUMPHREY: This area probably most well-known to travelers as the midway point between Los Angeles and Palm Springs was once largely an arid desert area has seen a tremendous amount of population. And, as you mentioned, is in a separate county from Los Angeles. Our communications, our transportation infrastructure, all of our links are intact between Los Angeles and that region. And at this time, we have literally hundreds of municipal workers at the local, regional, state and federal levels examining their key systems. And so far, everything's reporting back green. All conditions are good.

BLITZER: There was another earthquake that rocked at least parts of Los Angeles on Sunday. Is that right?

HUMPHREY: That is correct. We've had a significant amount of seismic activity. And of course, the world we live on, no matter where it is, is anything but terra firma. It's not uncommon to have seismic activity in California. But as of late, many of the events have brought some news, the incident you mentioned the other evening, there was a cause for a tsunami alert to go out, thankfully an alert proved not to be necessary.

BLITZER: Do these things, based on your experience, do these things usually happen in a series along the lines -- the one Sunday in southern California, then the one off the coast of Northern California, later in the week and just now within the past few minutes yet a third earthquake erupting in Southern California.

HUMPHREY: One of the things our good friends at the U.S. Geological Survey and Caltech have proven to us, that no matter how close we try to tie events together, it can take days, weeks or even months to determine the exact connection between the disparate events.

At this point in time, there's been no particular swarm that we've been made aware of. And no undue alert or undue concern for members of our department, our families and friends who also live in this region.

BLITZER: Is your community -- the Los Angeles County and that's the area you're responsible for -- fully prepared, God forbid, for a serious earthquake right now? HUMPHREY: We've been very well prepared. And Wolf, people who are joining us now, I'd encourage them to not only visit the CNN Web site for some great information about personal preparedness, but also the U.S. government has a Web site at ready.gov, that's ready.G-O-V. And it helps people prepare ffr a broad variety of disasters: whether that should be an earthquake, a tsunami, flood or fire storm, people can and are indeed prepared, especially the people who live in this broad community we're now seeing on television.

BLITZER: Brian, as you take a look at the reaction coming in, and you're at the command center over there at the L.A. Fire Department, what are you hearing now? What is the latest information that you're getting?

HUMPHREY: Regretfully, most of our 911 lines have been flooded by people seeking answers to questions rather than reporting emergencies. But the calls that are coming through on the clear lines are showing us no undue concern. Most of the people looking for information. And that's why we're asking people to stay tuned to their television broadcast stations around the clock such as CNN and their local news radio stations for any localized information that might be necessary in their neighborhood.

BLITZER: Yucaipa is about 79 miles east of Los Angeles, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter as we said, 79 or 80 miles or so away from Los Angeles. What did you feel, Brian, when it happened?

HUMPHREY: We felt very little. Our automated equipment here at LAFD's command and control center did alert us to some seismic activity. We received a few telephone calls over a broad region. As we began to pinpoint the disparity between these regions, we realized we had a larger than average seismic event.

But at this time, as you can see in the picture, Downtown Los Angeles at this time is relatively placid. The community, its infrastructure, are in intact. And at this time, we do not believe or have any information that leads us to believe this is a precursor to any other event, rather a single, isolated earthquake at this time.

BLITZER: When was the last time you had a 5.3 or so magnitude earthquake that hit this Southern California area around L.A?

HUMPHREY: It's been awhile. An event of this size, certainly the magnitude 5 event that we had up in the mid state not too long ago was probably the closest.

These events often times are sharp jolts. But we can't be certain exactly what damage may or may not have been caused, which is why we have to survey the area. We look at the scales, certainly, with the large numbers cause us concern. But if someone's in a precarious position or a home or a building or what have you, is not up to snuff, obviously we can have damage or concerns or even injury or loss of life even from a small quake, which is why we ask people to remain ready.

BLITZER: Brian, I'm going to ask for your indulgence to hold on for one minute. Peter Viles our reporter in our Los Angeles bureau still with us. Peter, what additional information are you getting?

VILES: Well, nothing beyond what you just got, Wolf. But just to add a little bit about Yucaipa, I was out there in Riverside County, it's not a place where you would expect to find too many tall buildings. But there is a whole lot of residential construction out there. It's a very rapidly growing area.

Another thing to add here, just to follow up to what the official just said, this is the third quake had in California since Sunday of five or greater. We had one Sunday in Anza, which is out in the desert. Then, of course, Tuesday night, up north, off the coast. And there is some discussion among people who study earthquakes about the possibility that these could be related.

Now, standard thinking about earthquakes is that they're not, that they're random events that have nothing to do with each other. And statistically, occasionally they happen relatively close in time. But there are some experts we talked to yesterday who said we really do need to consider the possibility that quakes like this coming in a little cluster or a little bunch could somehow be related to each other, perhaps one is somehow setting the other off. I should add though, again, most people who study earthquakes believe that is not the case.

But again, we had one Sunday in Anza, which is in the desert southwest of here. Then, of course, Tuesday night up north, that 7.2 off the coast. And today, 5.3, which we did feel in Hollywood, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Let me go back to Brian Humphrey of the L.A. Fire Department.

Brian, were you around in 1992 during the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Southern California?

HUMPHREY: Yes, indeed I was. In January of 1994 when we had the Northridge earthquake and through several other events. And certainly, this is not of the magnitude, as we understand at this hour. Most of the shaking was apparently east of the city in largely low rise residential neighborhoods.

And it's very difficult to compare this to that event. The one thing I am seeing and feeling from the literally dozens of fire command officers around me is that our city remains calm, that people were well prepared. And that bodes well for us to survive this or any future event.

BLITZER: What's the normal after shock experience with this kind of 5.3 magnitude earthquake, Brian?

HUMPHREY: Although, I'd have to refer to our experts, the scientists at U.S. Geological Survey and, of course, the local experts here at Caltech, typically, these events happen and it can be a long period before we'll have any related events that they will attribute, that we as firefighters cannot relate as aftershocks.

But certainly, our standard line, Wolf, is to tell people to prepare for an aftershock of similar magnitude. This could be a warning of another event. But we have -- I have emphasized, no information whatsoever at this time to link this seismic activity to an upcoming event.

BLITZER: But usually the aftershocks are of much less magnitude. Is that right?

HUMPHREY: Typically. If this is the major shock. The concern among scientists, though, could these be a foreshock of something else. And I can't even begin to relate the remote possibility of such. But of course, the earth is anything but firm. And it constantly is moving. There's a possibility that we may have aftershocks that mimic this or come close to it. As you might imagine, people are on their toes right now, very sensitive to rumbling or earthquake activity. And none of which has been reported at this time.

BLITZER: Let me put you on hold for one more second, Brian. Brian Humphrey of the L.A. fire department. Peter Viles is in our Los Angeles bureau. He's getting additional information. Peter, what have you learned?

VILES: Two things, Wolf, I want to correct myself, I said Riverside County. This is in San Bernardino County. But there is some science at quantifying the possibilities of aftershocks. And this from the U.S. Geological Survey.

At this time, the probability of a strong and possibly damaging after shock in the next seven days, according to the USGS is approximately 10 percent, Wolf. That's the kind of boiler plate information they put out when an earthquake takes place. But they do quantify it as approximately a 10 percent chance over the next seven days of something magnitude five or larger.

BLITZER: All right. The 5.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on Sunday in Southern California, 5.2, then there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Northern California later in the week and now a 5.3 magnitude earthquake once again in Southern California, centered in San Bernardino County, but clearly felt all the way from Los Angeles down to San Diego.

What kind of advice, Brian Humphrey of the L.A. Fire Department, do you have for people watching right now who may be concerned about after shocks? You say they should be taking precautions. What should they be doing?

HUMPHREY: Well, certainly monitoring their status. If you're in Southern California it's a good idea to survey your home, property or business and talk with your family, friends and colleagues, neighbors what you might do in the event of an earthquake.

For the many people watching this broadcast outside of Los Angeles, I would ask them not to pick up their telephone at this time. I repeat, do not call into Los Angeles. There's nothing you can do over the phone. People here are relatively calm. But tying up phone lines could prevent emergency callers for the routine artifacts, traffic accidents and the like that we have everyday in Los Angeles.

So again, no need to call into Los Angeles. For those people in the city, we ask them to remain calm and rest assured as we are in touch with the CNN newsroom around the clock in Atlanta, we'll be in touch with local news should there be any need for any emergency orders being given.

BLITZER: Brian Humphrey of the L.A. City Fire Department. We're going to have you back as we get more information. I want to thank you very much for updating our viewers on what exactly has happened in L.A.

Once again, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake epicenter about 70 miles or so outside of Los Angeles out in San Bernardino County, but clearly felt all the way from Los Angeles down to San Diego.

Peter Viles is still with us in Los Angeles. And Peter, for people just tuning in right now, give our viewers once again a sense of what you felt in our Los Angeles bureau out in near Hollywood in Los Angeles what, about 15-20 minutes ago.

VILES: Sure, about 15, 20 minutes ago, it's very quick, over in less than a second, Wolf. But the floor -- and our building, I'm told by people who have been through earthquake before, is one of those buildings that has a little give to it, which I suppose is a good thing. But you felt the floor shake and you heard the ceiling shake. And it was over very quickly. And people stood up and looked around the newsroom and said this is it, earthquake, let's get our coverage going. I didn't do that. I stood around, looked around for a while waiting to seep if the building was going to fall down. Of course, it, didn't.

But it is -- it really does freak you out a little bit if you haven't been through it before. And I have not. Most of the people in this building have been through it before and handled this matter of factly. They could tell right away that at least in our area it was not a big, big earthquake.

But over very quickly. And as you just heard from the Los Angeles Fire Department, no reports yet of any serious damages or injury. The only real concern they had as they just stressed now with you is that people calling around the county are tying up phone lines and tying up their incoming lines. But they don't know of any immediate damages from this. And we do know that it was centered about 70 miles east of here in an area that's the bedroom community, San Bernardino County rather, a lot of home construction out there, but not a lot of high rise buildings out there. And the other thing we should add, it is the third decent sized quake we've had in California, Wolf, since Sunday.

BLITZER: All right. One on Sunday, one in Northern California, that triggered a tsunami warning that fortunately turned out to be false. And now this 5.3 magnitude earthquake.

Let's head out closer to the epicenter out in San Bernardino County. Captain Bret Raney is joining us now live on the phone from the San Bernadino Fire Department.

Give us a sense, Captain, what has happened in your community.

CAPTAIN BRET RANEY, SAN BERNADINO FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, approximately 15,20 minutes ago, we're doing our normal station duties and we did feel a substantial size earthquake here. So far, we haven't had any damage reported to us.

BLITZER: Tell us what you felt, personally, as this earthquake occurred just before 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast, 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast.

RANEY: Well, this type of an earthquake, there's a couple different types of earthquakes that I've experienced -- a slow rolling type, which feels as if you're riding on a surfboard in the ocean. This one here was -- to me felt more as of a quick shaking, as if a vehicle was crashing into the building. And it lasted, oh it, seemed like forever when there happening, but probably lasted probably seven or eight seconds.

BLITZER: Did you get a sense, captain, that people are calling in just out of precaution, out of fear? Or that there really is something to be concerned about in terms of damage?

RANEY: Well, there is always a concern. And we have units out surveying the district as is our policy. One thing that I know has been mentioned, it is very important that people do not tie up the phone lines just trying to get information. The 911 system is set up for emergencies. If people are tying up the 911 phone lines, obviously that delays us responding to people who really do need help. That's something we do like to stress. Please do not use the 911 system for information only.

BLITZER: 5.3 magnitude, when's the last time your community suffered from an earthquake along this magnitude?

RANEY: It's been awhile since I can remember. I know we've had a few earthquakes here in California lately. We had that large one just a few days ago up in Northern California. And so I really can't remember when the last one was. This was one that was substantial. Again, I'm approximately three miles from the actual epicenter.

BLITZER: One final question, captain, describe the community, your community. Mostly a bedroom community?

RANEY: Exactly. It's a small, growing community. A little bit of rural in some of the areas. Not too many high rise structures in this area. You'd have to go a little bit further to the west towards Los Angeles or even Ontario, Fontana, that type of area. But yeah, it's correct in saying it's just a small bedroom community.

BLITZER: Captain Bret Raney, good luck to you, good luck to all the folks out there in Southern California. Thanks very much for spending a few moments with us. We'll check back with you to get some more information.

Waverly Person is with the National Earthquake Information Center. He's joining us on the phone right now from Colorado.

What can you tell us about this earthquake? .

We're trying to connect with Waverly Person from the National Earthquake Information Center. Can you hear me?

WAVERLY PERSON, NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER: Yes I can.

BLITZER: Give us some details what you're putting together.

PERSON: We have a magnitude...

BLITZER: Go ahead.

PERSON: We have a magnitude of 5.3. The earthquake occurred at 1:53 PM, that's California time. It's located -- people know more about L.A. -- and it's about 70 miles east of L.A. It's not in L.A. It's near a small place out there that -- it's not a lot of people, and it's Yucaipa. That's where the earthquake is centered, about three miles to the northeast of there, and this is not the heavilated pop -- heavily populated area as it would be in L.A. So, they are not going to be receiving as much damage if it had been centered in L.A., OK?

BLITZER: If -- but this is a bedroom community and small homes, we're told, in Yucaipa and San Bernardino County. What kind of damage could a 5.3 earthquake do to these homes?

PERSON: You probably could have some damage. I don't think you would have homes collapse or anything of that nature. You could some damage, broken windows and glasses and that type thing. We have heard nothing about anyone being injured yet or killed, so it's a possibility it might have some small injuries but because of the population, it's not going to be that much damage and injuries as it if it had been say into L.A.

BLITZER: What's the scientific rule of thumb as far as aftershocks are concerned? How worried should people out in southern California be?

PERSON: Well, aftershocks from an earthquake of this size usually are very small. This earthquake is classified as a moderate earthquake, which is 5.0 to 5.9, and the aftershocks, you could have some that might be up to four, and then they might fall down into magnitude three range which would not be large enough to cause any additional damage.

BLITZER: So, you're just beginning the process of reviewing the preliminary magnitude, 5.3. Does that usually change after you do more scientific analysis?

PERSON: Yes, sometimes it will change. Everything we're giving you right now is preliminary, so it's also subject to change.

BLITZER: I'll let you get back to work. Waverly Person of the National Earthquake Information Center out in Colorado who's monitoring this 5.3 preliminary magnitude earthquake.

Peter Viles is still with us in our Los Angeles bureau. He felt the earth move during this earthquake about what, 20, 25 minutes or so ago. Peter, what else have you learned?

VILES: Sure did. Well, one of our producers in New York as it happens, Wolf, Shana Futello (ph) has parents in Yucaipa. She's spoken with them and tells us that her father says that it was, quote, "a mostly horizontal shake." These are people who really can analyze earthquakes. He says, like someone was shaking the house from side -- from the side, not up and down and it felt like a heavy horizontal force. The mother out there says it was a really major jolt. She ran out of the house, a shaking jolt, she says. But she also says it seemed like there was very little aftershock immediately afterwards, but it did in fact shake everything out there.

So, that is from Yucaipa which is, as we say, a bedroom community about 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and we, in fact, are west of downtown Los Angeles in Hollywood and we did feel it here, and it was -- for me personally, it was a scary moment, if you will. It was a real shake, but others in the bureau who've been through these before did not immediately think it was a big one, and of course, as we're learning, it's not a real big one, 5.3, but that is a considerable quake.

I think you heard somebody say it was a substantial size earthquake, someone in San Bernardino County told us that. But again, the big story, no major reports of injuries or damages in San Bernardino or in Los Angeles, Wolf.

BLITZER: We always say no immediate reports of injury or damage, but usually takes some time to get that kind of information. It's just a preliminary. Within minutes, we got the information that there are no immediate damage or casualties. We'll hope that remains to be the case. We'll continue to watch this 5.3 magnitude earthquake.

As you take a look, Peter Viles, in Los Angeles -- you come out there from the East Coast. You've only been there a few months. Everybody's always joking around about earthquakes out in southern California, but it's clearly something that's been on your mind.

VILES: Yes, you know, it's not something you can prepare yourself for, and when you feel the buildings shake, there's nothing really like it. I mean, if you're in a boat and the boat shakes, it's not the same. The amount of weight involved is not the same, but to feel the shake move from one -- I was standing up when it happened -- move from one foot to the other, it really does sort of take your breath away, and you look around.

As it turns out, this was not a big one and I'm told our building has some give to it. Some buildings don't. Ours does, so maybe the shake was a little more dramatic here in our building, and again, from that resident out in Yucaipa, he describes this as a mostly horizontal shake like someone was pushing on the side of his house. That said, we don't have reports of heavy damage out there, Wolf. BLITZER: All right, let's go out to Yucaipa. Greg Franklin joining us, director of administrative services in Yucaipa, very close to the epicenter of this 5.3 earthquake.

Tell our viewers, Greg, what's going on in your community.

GREG FRANKLIN, YUCAIPA, CALIFORNIA: Well, early indications are that we're in pretty good shape. Yes, it shakes, just as you just reported, like a horizontal shake. It's probably true. But right now, it is calm and our indications are that there has -- we have sustained little to no damage.

BLITZER: The 1992 earthquake, which was much larger, I think it was like a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, in southern California, resulted I believe in one person killed in that earthquake, others injured. But about $100 million in damage. Presumably nothing along those lines in Yucaipa and the surrounding areas this time around, based on your preliminary reports.

FRANKLIN: No, absolutely not. We were here for the '92 earthquake, as well and that was far more significant than what we're experiencing right now.

BLITZER: What did it feel like for you? Once again, just tell our viewers how long it lasted and what the motion was like.

FRANKLIN: I believe people are still shaking, you know, several minutes later, but it lasted I'm guessing eight to 10 seconds, which obviously in the middle seems like a lot longer, but it was eight to 10 seconds. A lot of noise around the building, and watching the walls shake.

BLITZER: Did you -- did you immediately realize there was an earthquake? What floor of the building were you on?

FRANKLIN: We have a brand new city hall -- one year. It's one floor only, and there was some noise just prior to the shaking. That was -- so that was unusual, just to hear a bunch of noise in the building, and relatively quickly, it started shaking and lasted about eight seconds.

BLITZER: We know that all the new buildings, basically, in California, along that earthquake line, the fault line, are prepared for earthquakes, but the older buildings presumably are not. Is that the case in Yucaipa?

FRANKLIN: Well, certainly is the case for many buildings in our area. Fortunately, we're in a brand new building here in city hall, and so it -- recently completed, certainly built to withstand earthquakes of this magnitude, and I would imagine even larger.

BLITZER: Any advice you have for people listening who may be in an affected area? What, if anything, differently they should be doing now?

FRANKLIN: Very good question. I heard your -- the person just before I came on, and that is, it's real hard to prepare for.

BLITZER: In terms of aftershocks, is that what you're saying?

FRANKLIN: Well, real hard to prepare because you don't know -- it happens so quickly, you certainly can't prepare that it's going to happen in a short period of time. It just happens.

BLITZER: How difficult is it to get earthquake insurance in California?

FRANKLIN: I understand it's extremely difficult.

BLITZER: It's very expensive, isn't it?

FRANKLIN: Very expensive.

BLITZER: Does the state subsidize that?

FRANKLIN: That I do not know.

BLITZER: All right. Because a lot of people have often complained that they would love to get some earthquake insurance but financially, it's very, very costly.

All right. We're going to leave it right there. Greg Franklin from Yucaipa, in -- the director of administrative services.

Peter Viles has been helping us. He's our reporter in our Los Angeles bureau who was there on the scene once the earthquake occurred, around 1:53 p.m. Pacific time, 4:53 p.m. East coast time, about a half an hour or so ago. Peter, what are you learning?

VILES: A quick word about this. This thing was felt from Ventura County north of Los Angeles all the way to San Diego in the south. The reason we're learning that it was felt so far -- in such a big area was the depth of the quake. It was only eight miles deep according to the USGS as opposed to that Crescent City earthquake up north on Tuesday night which was 40 miles deep. The closer to the surface, the more widely spread it would be.

I should add, though, that people out west -- out east where this happened, out in Yucaipa, are saying seven or eight seconds. You just heard eight to ten seconds. It was not that long here in Los Angeles and in Hollywood. It was really over in, at most, two seconds, and I'd even say closer to a second by the time it got here.

But, again, the depth of the quake, we're now learning from the seismologists who study this, eight miles deep. That Crescent City earthquake in the ocean on Tuesday night was 40 miles deep and was not as widely felt even though it was a bigger earthquake than this one today, east of Los Angeles. Wolf?

BLITZER: The further away you are from the epicenter, the less you will feel, though you're about 70 or 80 miles from the epicenter, Peter, and you certainly felt something, certainly not as extensive as people out in Yucaipa, the San Bernardino County area where the 5.3- magnitude earthquake occurred.

Peter, are people, based on the information you're getting, reacting calmly in Los Angeles? Are the news media, the local news media, local television, reporting anything unusual?

VILES: Well, I haven't seen any signs of panic, but people do get on the phone at a time like this and that can be a problem as you heard from the Los Angeles County official earlier. People tying up 911 lines, not because something is wrong but because they want to find out if something is wrong, and the county at this point saying, no, nothing is wrong.

But it's a time when people do jump on the phone immediately and call loved ones -- where are you? Are you OK? So, there's a lot of that going on. But, that said, people in Los Angeles who have been through a few of these can analyze them as you heard from gentleman out in Yucaipa. He said it was a horizontal quake. So, people can sort of give some perspective to what this earthquake was like, relative to others.

Our bureau chief here, Pete Janos (ph), who's been through a few of these, said this one was a quick one. That said, he was sitting in his office and his windows moved a little bit and creaked a little bit. You felt it on the floor in this building and in the ceiling, so you definitely felt it. But people who have been through a bunch here in Los Angeles will say this was a quick one.

BLITZER: You'll forgive the pun -- and I've lived through an earthquake -- you really do get shaken up by a earthquake. It begins to focus the mind somewhat. You're on what, the third or fourth floor of a high-rise building in L.A.?

VILES: We're on the third floor, Wolf. And as I've said a couple of times, I'm told that this building has some give to it, which is a good thing in an earthquake zone. But when you have that give, you feel it a little bit more. So, perhaps if you were in an older that building doesn't have that give, you wouldn't have felt it as strongly as we did. But it translates right to the floor and you feel it first in one foot and then the other, almost as if it's moving underneath you in the floor.

BLITZER: Peter, if you take a look out the window -- and I'm sure we had producers who were monitoring the situation -- I assume everything is slowly but surely getting back to normal in Los Angeles. People are going about their jobs. People are going to take a break, certainly, think about it, get on the phone, talk to their loved ones. But the traffic patterns and the regular routine, I assume, gets back to normal. People are relatively used to earthquakes out in the Southern California area.

VILES: Oh, yeah. As you can see, that's a shot right outside our Hollywood Bureau. And we will have a rush hour here, Wolf, in half an hour as we do every day.

With cell phones, people don't really have to stop what they're doing. They just get on the cell phone and call, did you feel it? And you know, if they know people out in Yucaipa, they'd be calling out there, or if they have loved ones elsewhere in the metropolitan area, they would be calling across the city. But you don't really have to come to a stop in a situation like this, particularly as we've been saying, when there's no reports of damages. But it is certainly something to talk about, did you feel it, what did it feel like. And people here do have a way of sizing these things up -- I'm just learning from this one -- but what was the nature of it, was it a long shake. You heard someone earlier who was telling you over the phone that some of them feel almost like you're surfing, like a rolling wave. This one didn't feel like that. It was more like a jolt, if you will. And that's certainly what we felt here in Hollywood, at least we're 70 miles from the epicenter of this thing, but that's what we felt here, was a real quick shake, and then it was over.

BLITZER: All right, let's get some more details. Susan Hough is joining us from the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Susan, what can you tell us?

SUSAN HOUGH, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Well, you probably have the preliminary information. We have an initial magnitude of 5.3, and you probably have the location already.

The way any one earthquake is going to feel depends mostly on the magnitude and how far away you are. So if you're on top of a 5, it's going to be a pretty good jolt, where as if you're farther away, then you're going to get that rolling motion that people talk about.

BLITZER: This is the third earthquake to hit California in less than a week. What, if anything, should we make of that?

HOUGH: Well, it's something that seismologists are trying to figure out actively as we speak, in that the relationship between different earthquakes, and we're beginning to understand that earthquakes can trigger other earthquakes at pretty big distances, bigger than we realized just a few years ago. You know, we've always known about aftershocks, but it turns out that you can get sort of aftershocks at greater distances.

So in particular, we had the shake in Amson (ph), Riverside County, on Sunday. That very likely could have set this one into motion today.

BLITZER: So let me just get this straight. One thing that everyone should be concerned about would be aftershocks, but those would be much -- of a much smaller magnitude, usually. The other thing people should be concerned about, whether these three earthquakes could yet trigger more significant earthquakes in the days or weeks to come.

HOUGH: Right. Well, that's you know, when triggered earthquakes happen, usually they're smaller than the first event, and the expectation is this doesn't cascade into any sort of doomsday scenario. Based on what we've seen before, triggered earthquakes tend to be smaller and it tends to wind down rather than build up into anything. And this isn't a doomsday bad movie scenario that we're looking at. BLITZER: All right, so just give us some scientific perspective, Susan, before I let you go. Viewers out there who are concerned about loved ones in Southern California, give us some important words what they should have on their minds right now.

HOUGH: OK, well, this is earthquake country. You know, a big earthquake could happen anytime, five minutes from now, it could happen tomorrow. We can't ever say that it won't happen. Today's event could be a foreshock. There's a 5 or 6 percent chance that something bigger will happen within the next three days.

That said, there's nothing about the pattern. It sort of looks alarming, but there's really nothing ominous about it. It sort of fits with our understanding about how earthquakes essentially communicate with each other.

BLITZER: Susan Hough is with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Susan, thanks very much for those words. We'll check back with you as we continue our coverage.

Once again, for viewers who might just be tuning in, just before 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast, precisely 1:53 p.m. on the West Coast, 4:53 p.m. on the East Coast, a 5.3 magnitude, the epicenter around Yucaipa in San Bernardino County, about 70 miles or so east of Los Angeles. Yucaipa a small community, a bedroom community. We spoke to officials there. No immediate reports of damage or injuries, but this is very, very early in the process.

We're going to continue our coverage of the latest earthquake, the third earthquake to hit California in less than a week. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're watching an earthquake, an earthquake about 35 minutes or so ago -- actually, closer to 40 minutes or so, just before 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast, 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast. A 5.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California; the epicenter about 70 miles or so east of Los Angeles, Yucaipa, in San Bernardino County. No reports of injury or damage. We're watching this earthquake, the third earthquake to hit California in less than a week. Authorities caution there could be some relatively minor aftershocks. We'll watch what's happening, get back to that story as we get more information.

There's other important news we're following. Imagine this: Your car is turned off, parked, and suddenly, with no one around, it bursts into flames. That's exactly what's happening to some Ford vehicles built before 2004. Just yesterday, one family filed a wrongful death suit over a fire which family members say started in a 1996 F-150 pickup parked in the garage attached to their Iowa home. That fire killed 74-year-old Arletta Mullas (ph) and injured her 76-year-old husband.

Investigators for Ford and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spent hours earlier this week poking through the rubble of the house. NHTSA had no comment in its findings, but Ford specifically denied the fire was caused by the truck.

Still, Ford admits it has a problem with some of its vehicles catching fire when parked and the engine turned off. Ford has already recalled more than 1 million of its cars, trucks and SUVs. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it's investigating nearly 4 million more vehicles for the same problem.

Now, CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has uncovered new information on just how many more Ford vehicles may be at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire rescue. What is your emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, my house is exploded. Something in my car -- my house is on fire.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A frantic call to 911 at 5:00 in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.

GRIFFIN: A mother in a panic. Her 15-year-old daughter's bedroom wall is in flames.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My house is fire! Please!

GRIFFIN: She makes several more calls to 911 before fire trucks arrive. Within minutes, the fire burned down the Kissimmee, Florida house of Nestor Oyola and his wife Laura leaving their daughter Rotsenmary scarred.

ROTSENMARY OYOLA, HOUSE BURNED DOWN: It's difficult. But you know, we have to accept it.

GRIFFIN: So what went wrong? What could have possibly caused this much destruction

NESTOR OYOLA, FATHER (through translator): I bought the car on Monday and Wednesday it burned everything.

GRIFFIN: The insurance investigation showed the 2001 Ford Expedition Nestor just bought his wife caught fire while it was parked and turned off in the garage. Ken and Michelle Whelpley of Winterhaven, Florida had a similar experience.

KEN WHELPLEY, TRUCK CAUGHT FIRE: How do you park a vehicle, go to bed, sleep all night, and then in the morning, it's on fire?

GRIFFIN: It sounds unusual, but CNN has learned fires like this have occurred all across the country. A neighbor took this picture of the Whelpley's truck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flames were shooting all the way up to the top of the garage. I couldn't believe it. I mean, just could not believe it. GRIFFIN: In Orlando, a used car dealer surveillance camera caught this car bursting into flames. It had been parked overnight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just come in the morning like a regular day and I see a car all burnt up. I'm like, what the -- it was a shock. I didn't know what to do. I lost all the money.

GRIFFIN: And with many of the cars and trucks sitting in garages, houses are being burned down, too.

WHELPLEY: What if we'd have died in this mess?

GRIFFIN: Four investigations by the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration have compiled 559 reports of Ford fires. And those investigations are focusing on one part under the hood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes when we're digging through this, we find the remains that failed.

GRIFFIN: Harvey Michel (ph) is a fire investigator and says he's seen about 30 of these Ford cases in just the last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tire damage is more severe on top.

GRIFFIN: We asked him to look at the Whelpleys burned, 2000 Ford F-150 pickup. Within 30 minutes, he finds what he says is the cause.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's the part. That is typical of the failure of the switch.

GRIFFIN: It's the cruise, or speed control deactivation switch. This is what several fire investigators hired by major insurance companies and auto engineers consulted by CNN say is causing the cars and trucks to ignite.

How? The pressure switch disconnects the cruise control when the driver steps firmly on the brake. That switch is attached to the brake master cylinder on one end and wired to the cruise control on the other.

Ford designed the switch to be powered, or hot at all times even when the vehicle is off and the key is out of the ignition. What separates the electrical components from the brake fluid inside the switch is a thin film barrier. Investigators say the film can crack allowing droplets of brake fluid to come in contact with the hot electrical components, sometimes, say investigators causing a fire.

And those fires can happen whether the vehicle is moving or even parked with the engine off. Firefighters in Deltona, Florida, say you can see it happen in this video. A firefighter was changing a fuse when he noticed the switch in his 1995 F-250 begin to smoke. A co- worker grabbed a video camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had we allowed it to continue it would have burst into flames and it would have consumed the vehicle. GRIFFIN: Chris Nabicht is chief fire marshal for the city of Deltona. He says he's seen at least a half a dozen similar Ford fires.

CHRIS NABICHT, DELTONA CHIEF FIRE MARSHAL: The concern for people's lives and how fast this can occur, whether you're in the vehicle or not in the vehicle, is kind of scary.

GRIFFIN: Houston attorney Mike Jolly agrees. He represents clients whose vehicles have caught fire while parked.

MIKE JOLLY, ATTORNEY: There's no reason to wire the switch hot because you don't need to turn off the cruise control when the car is stopped and turned off and parked in your garage.

GRIFFIN: Five different auto engineers tell CNN the design is unique to Ford. And Ford has responded to the fires by issuing two separate recalls. The first in 1999 recalled nearly 300,000 Crown Victorias, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars.

Then, just this past January, Ford issued a second, larger recall 792,000 vehicles, including 2001 F-Series Super Crews, and 2000 Expeditions, Navigators and top selling F-150 pickups.

(on camera): Beyond those recalls, the federal government is investigating an additional 3.7 million Ford vehicles for the same problem. Now CNN has obtained this Ford document, which the company handed over to federal investigators. It shows a total of 16 million Ford cars and trucks have been built with what the company acknowledges is the same or similar switch.

(voice-over): The list includes recalled and nonrecalled Expeditions, Explorers, F-Series pickups, Crown Victorias, Town Cars and Grand Marquis, some as early as 1992 and as recent at 2003. Also included are thousands of Tauruses, Econoline vans, Rangers and Windstars.

Ford declined our requests for an on camera interview. But in a statement to CNN, Ford says its records show the risk of fire differs for make, model and year. They say, quote, "it's important to understand that all speed control systems are not identical in Ford vehicles. In those populations with an increasing fire report rate, we stopped using the switch through the recall process. The switch has performed well in many models for many years."

Nearly half of those 559 Ford fires reported to the government safety agency as originating in the cruise control switch were in cars and trucks from model years not recalled. That includes the Expeditions owned by the Oyolas and that Orlando car dealer.

NABICHT: They've taken the step by recalling certain models of vehicles. I think the recall probably needs to be much broader than what it is.

GRIFFIN: Ford's response to that? "We have been asked why we have not expanded the recall. The last thing we want to do is make an important safety decision on incorrect or incomplete information." Ford did recall the Mercury Grand Marquis made in 1992 and 1993 but not the 1994 model year.

SANDRA GONZALEZ, HOUSE BURNED DOWN: We just drove by and everything was gone.

GRIFFIN: Sandra and Ramon Gonzalez of Mission, Texas, owned a nonrecalled 1994 Grand Marquis. It burned in their garage two years ago, taking their home with it.

RAMON GONZALEZ, HOUSE BURNED DOWN: Everything was destroyed. Everything. Everything. Completely.

GRIFFIN: In a lawsuit against Ford, three fire investigators hired by the Gonzalez' insurance company blamed the cruise control switch, the same switch recalled in the previous two model years.

Of the Gonzalez' fire, Ford told CNN there's no evidence that the fire actually originated in the Grand Marquis, let alone in the switch. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its investigators couldn't find a safety defect trend in the '94 through '97 Grand Marquis model years. And there was no recall of those years.

So what does Ford say is the reason the switch catches fire? Again, Ford wouldn't agree to be interviewed for this report. But this is what the company told us in an e-mail.

"We have not determined at this time that there is a defect with the switch. But for reasons we still do not understand, the switch is failing. And we are trying to understand why."

Ford says it's cooperating with a federal investigation into the fires. As for the switch, Ford has stopped using it. And is now using a new switch as of the 2004 model year. In the meantime, the Oyolas who made that desperate 911 call when their nonrecalled SUV caught fire, are left to pick up their lives.

LAURA HERNANDEZ, HOUSE BURNED DOWN (through translator): Here, there is nothing to replace, nothing. I was left with nothing.

GRIFFIN: Firefighters found the family cat burned to death in this corner.

This is where Laura's daughter Rosemary (ph) dialed 911. As the Expedition was burning in the garage just a few feet away, she escaped with burns to her legs.

For Nestor Oyola, the father, it's hard to talk about it. The night before the fire, he moved his wife's Expedition in the garage hoping to keep it safe. He says he'll never forget it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And, CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin is joining us now, live. Drew, what should I do, for example, or our viewers do, if they think they have a car with this kind of switch?

GRIFFIN: It's a big question, and as we reported, Wolf, for 16 million vehicles out there. If your car has been recalled, you should've gotten a note from Ford saying, you should bring the car or the vehicle down to the dealership like this one and have that cruise control disconnected.

If you're outside of the recalled cars, Ford says your car is fine, but the experts that we've been talking to, Wolf, says you should pay to have that cruise control disconnected. It costs about $100, and as uncomfortable as this sounds, at the very least, those experts say, you shouldn't park your vehicle near your house.

BLITZER: What happens, has happened, Drew, to the families you profiled in your piece? Have they been able to get any compensation?

GRIFFIN: Most have gotten something through their own insurance companies. The Oyolas, the family that lost their cat, did not get enough to replace their house. They have been renting a home now for about the last few weeks, and they're hoping to settle with Ford. The other families are in the process of either trying to settle or suing Ford, and keep in mind that Ford has settled hundreds of these cases across the country, Wolf, but admitted fault in none of them.

BLITZER: What does Ford say about that Iowa death that you mentioned earlier?

Reporter: As you reported, Ford is denying that the fire actually started in that truck, which then spread to the house and killed that woman. The family and their attorney obviously has a different opinion, but Ford did write us this e-mail in response saying, "Unfortunately, fires happen every year in all makes and models of all manufacturers for a number of reasons, including faulty repair, improper modification to the vehicle with after-market parts and wiring, prior accident damage, and even arson," Wolf. The family contending it was the switch. That's why they're pressing ahead with that lawsuit.

BLITZER: Andrew, the federal government now. What does the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying about the 16 million cars with this particular switch?

GRIFFIN: That's a good question and I wish we had a better answer from the federal government on this. What they are telling us is the investigation is ongoing. They're not doing any recommendations until they come to a conclusion and they are asking Ford for all documents, all information, that pertained to any fires in those 16 million vehicles.

BLITZER: Drew Griffin has done excellent journalism for us here at CNN. Drew, thanks very much for that report. We'll continue to monitor the fallout. Drew Griffin, reporting for us. Good work.

We'll take another quick break. When we come back, we'll update you on the 5.3 earthquake, the magnitude earthquake that has rocked California a little bit more than one hour ago, an earthquake in southern California. We'll have the latest information. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. We're watching the fallout from that earthquake that occurred about an hour or so ago in southern California. Peter Viles is joining us from our Los Angeles bureau, the epicenter about 70 miles or so east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County and Yucaipa to be specific. What's the latest information we have, Peter?

VILES: Well, the news right now, Wolf, is no news is good news. No reports of serious damages or injuries yet. I'm sure we're going to have some damages to some homes out there because we've talked to some people in Yucaipa who've said their homes shook. The glass shook, things fell off the cases and what not.

But, again, no serious injuries in Yucaipa, as you say, 70 miles east of Los Angeles, a bedroom community in San Bernardino County, of about 45,000 people. This is not really a rural area. It's more suburban area.

I think by the end of the night the big headline here, Wolf, maybe that this is the third big earthquake to hit California since Sunday. We had one Sunday in the desert southwest of here, a 5.2. Then the 7.2 up on the coast off of northern California, and now this one. So three earthquakes since Sunday in southern California, and a word about aftershocks. This from the USGS.

"The probability of a strong and possibly damaging aftershock," that's 5.0 or greater, "in the next seven days," according to the USGS at this time, "is approximately 10 percent." So, we do have to keep an eye out for possible aftershocks here. But again, the headline, 5.3 in Yucaipa, 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, felt up and down southern California from Ventura County all the way down to San Diego, but no major damages or injuries, Wolf.

BLITZER: The area that the -- the area that this earthquake was felt, that seems to be a pretty large area for what's being described as a moderate 5.3 magnitude earthquake. The area that people felt it seems to be pretty significant.

VILES: It could be because -- and I'm not an expert on these things, but it could be because this earthquake was not very deep, as opposed to that earthquake up north on Tuesday night that caused the tsunami warning off the coast. That was 40 miles below the earth's surface. This one, only eight miles below the earth's surface. So, that could speak partly to why it's been felt up and down the coast here.

But that's pretty much all of southern California. When you talk about Ventura County down to San Diego County, that's pretty much all of southern California feeling this thing, and I can tell you, we certainly felt it here in Hollywood. No damages here, but you felt it. The floor shook, the ceiling shook, and some of the windows shook a little bit. So I understand why people are shaken up by these things.

BLITZER: And we spoke to an expert earlier who said yes, this is the third earthquake that has rocked California since Sunday, and sometimes earthquakes have a tendency of promoting additional earthquakes, setting the stage for yet another earthquake. I assume a lot of people are simply rattled by this.

VILES: Yes, the general scientific knowledge on this is that these earthquakes are not related. That said, there's a lot of discussion here on the West Coast in the last couple of days, could these possibly be related? We're always learning more about earthquakes, and one of the things the seismologists are studying, is there some way that one quake in some way touches off another?

But, not just the three here in California this week. Remember, there was a big one in Chile which is also on what they call the Pacific Plate and there was another one up in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. So, seismologists have their hands full in the next couple days to try to figure out if there's any connection here. One possible connection is that one quake triggers another; another possible connection is, this is all the same movement if you will, or activity, along what's called this Pacific Plate. These are theories or hypotheses. They haven't been tested, haven't been proven, and most earthquake experts will tell you these are not related, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Peter Viles, reporting for us from Los Angeles. Peter, thanks very much. We'll continue to watch the story throughout the night here on CNN.

We had hoped to bring you our interview with Nancy Grace but obviously the earthquake has prevented us from doing so. We'll try to get Nancy on another occasion. Also, a story out of Africa, hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed. We'll bring that to you as well. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," though, starts right now. Lou's standing by in New York. Lou?

END

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Aired June 16, 2005 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER: Happening now, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles. We'll get details of that.
Also, lives destroyed in Zimbabwe: 200,000 people's lives have been upended as a result of brutal, brutal government events happening right now. The pictures will shock you. The world will no longer be able to say we didn't know. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A CNN exclusive: what if your car's parked, ignition off, left alone in the garage, and suddenly erupts in a raging fire? It's happening all across the country to certain Ford vehicles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flames are shooting all the way up to the top of the garage. I just couldn't believe it. I mean, just could not believe it.

BLITZER: A mystery, massive recalls and a major lawsuit: what you need to know in a CNN investigation.

She says high priced lawyers, celebrity defendants and nonstop coverage have hijacked our criminal justice system. As a felony prosecutor, she never lost a trial. As an analyst, she refuses to lose an argument. Is she right this time? I'll speak with CNN's Nancy Grace.

Royal mess: They've crashed the castle and penetrated the palace, now a newspaper says it sneaked a fake bomb into the military academy where Prince Harry is a cadet.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, June 16, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Yet another earthquake out of the West Coast, this time in Southern California. We're told it's a 5.3 magnitude. The epicenter, San Bernardino County in Southern California. We're getting details. Our Los Angeles bureau has felt the earth move inside that bureau in downtown Los Angeles. We'll get details, get extensive coverage this hour on the earthquake that has just, just rattled, rattled Southern California. We're told the earthquake was felt all the way from Los Angeles downtown to San Diego and the southern-most part of California. Once again, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake in California. This coming on the heels only the other day earlier this week, another earthquake off the coast of Northern California. That resulted in a tsunami warning, fortunately, that was not the case. There was no tsunami. But it's certainly rattling people out on the West Coast.

Peter Viles is in Los Angeles. He's joining us now live. What did you feel, first of all Peter, when this earthquake occurred?

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can count me, Wolf, among the rattled. It rattled our newsroom literally. The ceiling shook just a little bit. I felt the floor shake underneath me. I looked around. I just moved to California in the past year, everybody said earthquake, let's go.

What we're hearing is it's a 5.3, which is not a super big earthquake. And we're not hearing any immediate reports of damage. But you definitely felt it here in Los Angeles, or Hollywood rather. And we are told it's been felt as you said from Los Angeles to San Diego. And as we say, the time on this about ten minutes ago, about 1:53, Wolf.

BLITZER: This area, obviously, very widely populated, Southern California. But San Bernardino County which we're told is the epicenter of this 5.3 magnitude earthquake, do you get a sense of -- is this a very rural area or rather urban area?

VILES: We don't know the exact location in that county. But that county does have very heavily populated suburbs and bedroom communities. So, a lot of that county, Wolf, is very heavily populated. But as I say, we don't have an exact location yet in San Bernardino County.

BLITZER: We'll continue to watch the story with you, Peter, get more information as it become available. Once again, another earthquake out in Southern California. This time with a 5.3 magnitude. The Earth was felt to move all the way from Los Angeles down to San Diego. The epicenter, we're told, in San Bernardino County. We'll get back to Peter Viles, get more information on this earthquake.

In the meantime, other news. Hold on. One second. I think we're getting more information right now. Brian Humphrey is joining us on the phone from the fire department in Los Angeles. What do you know, Brian?

BRIAN HUMPHREY, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well Wolf, I'm here at our subterranean command and control center near downtown Los Angeles. And I can tell you it's throughout our nearly 500 square mile jurisdiction throughout the city of Los Angeles. There have been no -- and I do repeat -- no reports of any injury or significant damage.

The earthquake activity which struck approximately 12 minutes ago was felt over a wide area from Ventura County, which is halfway between LA and Santa Barbara and well into the inland empire. Our preliminary -- and I must emphasize, Wolf, preliminary reports are of a magnitude 5.3 event near the community of Yucaipa, which is about 80 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. And as earlier mentioned in your broadcast, a largely suburban community.

But at this time, throughout Los Angeles, all key systems are intact and operational. The fire department remains in a status of readiness. But there are no emergencies reported throughout the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

BLITZER: All right. We'll continue to watch this. So Yucaipa -- when you say this is a suburban area, a bedroom community, what exactly -- are there any major cities out there that potentially could have endured greater damage than Los Angeles, which is, as you point out, considerably removed from the epicenter?

HUMPHREY: This area probably most well-known to travelers as the midway point between Los Angeles and Palm Springs was once largely an arid desert area has seen a tremendous amount of population. And, as you mentioned, is in a separate county from Los Angeles. Our communications, our transportation infrastructure, all of our links are intact between Los Angeles and that region. And at this time, we have literally hundreds of municipal workers at the local, regional, state and federal levels examining their key systems. And so far, everything's reporting back green. All conditions are good.

BLITZER: There was another earthquake that rocked at least parts of Los Angeles on Sunday. Is that right?

HUMPHREY: That is correct. We've had a significant amount of seismic activity. And of course, the world we live on, no matter where it is, is anything but terra firma. It's not uncommon to have seismic activity in California. But as of late, many of the events have brought some news, the incident you mentioned the other evening, there was a cause for a tsunami alert to go out, thankfully an alert proved not to be necessary.

BLITZER: Do these things, based on your experience, do these things usually happen in a series along the lines -- the one Sunday in southern California, then the one off the coast of Northern California, later in the week and just now within the past few minutes yet a third earthquake erupting in Southern California.

HUMPHREY: One of the things our good friends at the U.S. Geological Survey and Caltech have proven to us, that no matter how close we try to tie events together, it can take days, weeks or even months to determine the exact connection between the disparate events.

At this point in time, there's been no particular swarm that we've been made aware of. And no undue alert or undue concern for members of our department, our families and friends who also live in this region.

BLITZER: Is your community -- the Los Angeles County and that's the area you're responsible for -- fully prepared, God forbid, for a serious earthquake right now? HUMPHREY: We've been very well prepared. And Wolf, people who are joining us now, I'd encourage them to not only visit the CNN Web site for some great information about personal preparedness, but also the U.S. government has a Web site at ready.gov, that's ready.G-O-V. And it helps people prepare ffr a broad variety of disasters: whether that should be an earthquake, a tsunami, flood or fire storm, people can and are indeed prepared, especially the people who live in this broad community we're now seeing on television.

BLITZER: Brian, as you take a look at the reaction coming in, and you're at the command center over there at the L.A. Fire Department, what are you hearing now? What is the latest information that you're getting?

HUMPHREY: Regretfully, most of our 911 lines have been flooded by people seeking answers to questions rather than reporting emergencies. But the calls that are coming through on the clear lines are showing us no undue concern. Most of the people looking for information. And that's why we're asking people to stay tuned to their television broadcast stations around the clock such as CNN and their local news radio stations for any localized information that might be necessary in their neighborhood.

BLITZER: Yucaipa is about 79 miles east of Los Angeles, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter as we said, 79 or 80 miles or so away from Los Angeles. What did you feel, Brian, when it happened?

HUMPHREY: We felt very little. Our automated equipment here at LAFD's command and control center did alert us to some seismic activity. We received a few telephone calls over a broad region. As we began to pinpoint the disparity between these regions, we realized we had a larger than average seismic event.

But at this time, as you can see in the picture, Downtown Los Angeles at this time is relatively placid. The community, its infrastructure, are in intact. And at this time, we do not believe or have any information that leads us to believe this is a precursor to any other event, rather a single, isolated earthquake at this time.

BLITZER: When was the last time you had a 5.3 or so magnitude earthquake that hit this Southern California area around L.A?

HUMPHREY: It's been awhile. An event of this size, certainly the magnitude 5 event that we had up in the mid state not too long ago was probably the closest.

These events often times are sharp jolts. But we can't be certain exactly what damage may or may not have been caused, which is why we have to survey the area. We look at the scales, certainly, with the large numbers cause us concern. But if someone's in a precarious position or a home or a building or what have you, is not up to snuff, obviously we can have damage or concerns or even injury or loss of life even from a small quake, which is why we ask people to remain ready.

BLITZER: Brian, I'm going to ask for your indulgence to hold on for one minute. Peter Viles our reporter in our Los Angeles bureau still with us. Peter, what additional information are you getting?

VILES: Well, nothing beyond what you just got, Wolf. But just to add a little bit about Yucaipa, I was out there in Riverside County, it's not a place where you would expect to find too many tall buildings. But there is a whole lot of residential construction out there. It's a very rapidly growing area.

Another thing to add here, just to follow up to what the official just said, this is the third quake had in California since Sunday of five or greater. We had one Sunday in Anza, which is out in the desert. Then, of course, Tuesday night, up north, off the coast. And there is some discussion among people who study earthquakes about the possibility that these could be related.

Now, standard thinking about earthquakes is that they're not, that they're random events that have nothing to do with each other. And statistically, occasionally they happen relatively close in time. But there are some experts we talked to yesterday who said we really do need to consider the possibility that quakes like this coming in a little cluster or a little bunch could somehow be related to each other, perhaps one is somehow setting the other off. I should add though, again, most people who study earthquakes believe that is not the case.

But again, we had one Sunday in Anza, which is in the desert southwest of here. Then, of course, Tuesday night up north, that 7.2 off the coast. And today, 5.3, which we did feel in Hollywood, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Let me go back to Brian Humphrey of the L.A. Fire Department.

Brian, were you around in 1992 during the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Southern California?

HUMPHREY: Yes, indeed I was. In January of 1994 when we had the Northridge earthquake and through several other events. And certainly, this is not of the magnitude, as we understand at this hour. Most of the shaking was apparently east of the city in largely low rise residential neighborhoods.

And it's very difficult to compare this to that event. The one thing I am seeing and feeling from the literally dozens of fire command officers around me is that our city remains calm, that people were well prepared. And that bodes well for us to survive this or any future event.

BLITZER: What's the normal after shock experience with this kind of 5.3 magnitude earthquake, Brian?

HUMPHREY: Although, I'd have to refer to our experts, the scientists at U.S. Geological Survey and, of course, the local experts here at Caltech, typically, these events happen and it can be a long period before we'll have any related events that they will attribute, that we as firefighters cannot relate as aftershocks.

But certainly, our standard line, Wolf, is to tell people to prepare for an aftershock of similar magnitude. This could be a warning of another event. But we have -- I have emphasized, no information whatsoever at this time to link this seismic activity to an upcoming event.

BLITZER: But usually the aftershocks are of much less magnitude. Is that right?

HUMPHREY: Typically. If this is the major shock. The concern among scientists, though, could these be a foreshock of something else. And I can't even begin to relate the remote possibility of such. But of course, the earth is anything but firm. And it constantly is moving. There's a possibility that we may have aftershocks that mimic this or come close to it. As you might imagine, people are on their toes right now, very sensitive to rumbling or earthquake activity. And none of which has been reported at this time.

BLITZER: Let me put you on hold for one more second, Brian. Brian Humphrey of the L.A. fire department. Peter Viles is in our Los Angeles bureau. He's getting additional information. Peter, what have you learned?

VILES: Two things, Wolf, I want to correct myself, I said Riverside County. This is in San Bernardino County. But there is some science at quantifying the possibilities of aftershocks. And this from the U.S. Geological Survey.

At this time, the probability of a strong and possibly damaging after shock in the next seven days, according to the USGS is approximately 10 percent, Wolf. That's the kind of boiler plate information they put out when an earthquake takes place. But they do quantify it as approximately a 10 percent chance over the next seven days of something magnitude five or larger.

BLITZER: All right. The 5.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on Sunday in Southern California, 5.2, then there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Northern California later in the week and now a 5.3 magnitude earthquake once again in Southern California, centered in San Bernardino County, but clearly felt all the way from Los Angeles down to San Diego.

What kind of advice, Brian Humphrey of the L.A. Fire Department, do you have for people watching right now who may be concerned about after shocks? You say they should be taking precautions. What should they be doing?

HUMPHREY: Well, certainly monitoring their status. If you're in Southern California it's a good idea to survey your home, property or business and talk with your family, friends and colleagues, neighbors what you might do in the event of an earthquake.

For the many people watching this broadcast outside of Los Angeles, I would ask them not to pick up their telephone at this time. I repeat, do not call into Los Angeles. There's nothing you can do over the phone. People here are relatively calm. But tying up phone lines could prevent emergency callers for the routine artifacts, traffic accidents and the like that we have everyday in Los Angeles.

So again, no need to call into Los Angeles. For those people in the city, we ask them to remain calm and rest assured as we are in touch with the CNN newsroom around the clock in Atlanta, we'll be in touch with local news should there be any need for any emergency orders being given.

BLITZER: Brian Humphrey of the L.A. City Fire Department. We're going to have you back as we get more information. I want to thank you very much for updating our viewers on what exactly has happened in L.A.

Once again, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake epicenter about 70 miles or so outside of Los Angeles out in San Bernardino County, but clearly felt all the way from Los Angeles down to San Diego.

Peter Viles is still with us in Los Angeles. And Peter, for people just tuning in right now, give our viewers once again a sense of what you felt in our Los Angeles bureau out in near Hollywood in Los Angeles what, about 15-20 minutes ago.

VILES: Sure, about 15, 20 minutes ago, it's very quick, over in less than a second, Wolf. But the floor -- and our building, I'm told by people who have been through earthquake before, is one of those buildings that has a little give to it, which I suppose is a good thing. But you felt the floor shake and you heard the ceiling shake. And it was over very quickly. And people stood up and looked around the newsroom and said this is it, earthquake, let's get our coverage going. I didn't do that. I stood around, looked around for a while waiting to seep if the building was going to fall down. Of course, it, didn't.

But it is -- it really does freak you out a little bit if you haven't been through it before. And I have not. Most of the people in this building have been through it before and handled this matter of factly. They could tell right away that at least in our area it was not a big, big earthquake.

But over very quickly. And as you just heard from the Los Angeles Fire Department, no reports yet of any serious damages or injury. The only real concern they had as they just stressed now with you is that people calling around the county are tying up phone lines and tying up their incoming lines. But they don't know of any immediate damages from this. And we do know that it was centered about 70 miles east of here in an area that's the bedroom community, San Bernardino County rather, a lot of home construction out there, but not a lot of high rise buildings out there. And the other thing we should add, it is the third decent sized quake we've had in California, Wolf, since Sunday.

BLITZER: All right. One on Sunday, one in Northern California, that triggered a tsunami warning that fortunately turned out to be false. And now this 5.3 magnitude earthquake.

Let's head out closer to the epicenter out in San Bernardino County. Captain Bret Raney is joining us now live on the phone from the San Bernadino Fire Department.

Give us a sense, Captain, what has happened in your community.

CAPTAIN BRET RANEY, SAN BERNADINO FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, approximately 15,20 minutes ago, we're doing our normal station duties and we did feel a substantial size earthquake here. So far, we haven't had any damage reported to us.

BLITZER: Tell us what you felt, personally, as this earthquake occurred just before 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast, 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast.

RANEY: Well, this type of an earthquake, there's a couple different types of earthquakes that I've experienced -- a slow rolling type, which feels as if you're riding on a surfboard in the ocean. This one here was -- to me felt more as of a quick shaking, as if a vehicle was crashing into the building. And it lasted, oh it, seemed like forever when there happening, but probably lasted probably seven or eight seconds.

BLITZER: Did you get a sense, captain, that people are calling in just out of precaution, out of fear? Or that there really is something to be concerned about in terms of damage?

RANEY: Well, there is always a concern. And we have units out surveying the district as is our policy. One thing that I know has been mentioned, it is very important that people do not tie up the phone lines just trying to get information. The 911 system is set up for emergencies. If people are tying up the 911 phone lines, obviously that delays us responding to people who really do need help. That's something we do like to stress. Please do not use the 911 system for information only.

BLITZER: 5.3 magnitude, when's the last time your community suffered from an earthquake along this magnitude?

RANEY: It's been awhile since I can remember. I know we've had a few earthquakes here in California lately. We had that large one just a few days ago up in Northern California. And so I really can't remember when the last one was. This was one that was substantial. Again, I'm approximately three miles from the actual epicenter.

BLITZER: One final question, captain, describe the community, your community. Mostly a bedroom community?

RANEY: Exactly. It's a small, growing community. A little bit of rural in some of the areas. Not too many high rise structures in this area. You'd have to go a little bit further to the west towards Los Angeles or even Ontario, Fontana, that type of area. But yeah, it's correct in saying it's just a small bedroom community.

BLITZER: Captain Bret Raney, good luck to you, good luck to all the folks out there in Southern California. Thanks very much for spending a few moments with us. We'll check back with you to get some more information.

Waverly Person is with the National Earthquake Information Center. He's joining us on the phone right now from Colorado.

What can you tell us about this earthquake? .

We're trying to connect with Waverly Person from the National Earthquake Information Center. Can you hear me?

WAVERLY PERSON, NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER: Yes I can.

BLITZER: Give us some details what you're putting together.

PERSON: We have a magnitude...

BLITZER: Go ahead.

PERSON: We have a magnitude of 5.3. The earthquake occurred at 1:53 PM, that's California time. It's located -- people know more about L.A. -- and it's about 70 miles east of L.A. It's not in L.A. It's near a small place out there that -- it's not a lot of people, and it's Yucaipa. That's where the earthquake is centered, about three miles to the northeast of there, and this is not the heavilated pop -- heavily populated area as it would be in L.A. So, they are not going to be receiving as much damage if it had been centered in L.A., OK?

BLITZER: If -- but this is a bedroom community and small homes, we're told, in Yucaipa and San Bernardino County. What kind of damage could a 5.3 earthquake do to these homes?

PERSON: You probably could have some damage. I don't think you would have homes collapse or anything of that nature. You could some damage, broken windows and glasses and that type thing. We have heard nothing about anyone being injured yet or killed, so it's a possibility it might have some small injuries but because of the population, it's not going to be that much damage and injuries as it if it had been say into L.A.

BLITZER: What's the scientific rule of thumb as far as aftershocks are concerned? How worried should people out in southern California be?

PERSON: Well, aftershocks from an earthquake of this size usually are very small. This earthquake is classified as a moderate earthquake, which is 5.0 to 5.9, and the aftershocks, you could have some that might be up to four, and then they might fall down into magnitude three range which would not be large enough to cause any additional damage.

BLITZER: So, you're just beginning the process of reviewing the preliminary magnitude, 5.3. Does that usually change after you do more scientific analysis?

PERSON: Yes, sometimes it will change. Everything we're giving you right now is preliminary, so it's also subject to change.

BLITZER: I'll let you get back to work. Waverly Person of the National Earthquake Information Center out in Colorado who's monitoring this 5.3 preliminary magnitude earthquake.

Peter Viles is still with us in our Los Angeles bureau. He felt the earth move during this earthquake about what, 20, 25 minutes or so ago. Peter, what else have you learned?

VILES: Sure did. Well, one of our producers in New York as it happens, Wolf, Shana Futello (ph) has parents in Yucaipa. She's spoken with them and tells us that her father says that it was, quote, "a mostly horizontal shake." These are people who really can analyze earthquakes. He says, like someone was shaking the house from side -- from the side, not up and down and it felt like a heavy horizontal force. The mother out there says it was a really major jolt. She ran out of the house, a shaking jolt, she says. But she also says it seemed like there was very little aftershock immediately afterwards, but it did in fact shake everything out there.

So, that is from Yucaipa which is, as we say, a bedroom community about 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and we, in fact, are west of downtown Los Angeles in Hollywood and we did feel it here, and it was -- for me personally, it was a scary moment, if you will. It was a real shake, but others in the bureau who've been through these before did not immediately think it was a big one, and of course, as we're learning, it's not a real big one, 5.3, but that is a considerable quake.

I think you heard somebody say it was a substantial size earthquake, someone in San Bernardino County told us that. But again, the big story, no major reports of injuries or damages in San Bernardino or in Los Angeles, Wolf.

BLITZER: We always say no immediate reports of injury or damage, but usually takes some time to get that kind of information. It's just a preliminary. Within minutes, we got the information that there are no immediate damage or casualties. We'll hope that remains to be the case. We'll continue to watch this 5.3 magnitude earthquake.

As you take a look, Peter Viles, in Los Angeles -- you come out there from the East Coast. You've only been there a few months. Everybody's always joking around about earthquakes out in southern California, but it's clearly something that's been on your mind.

VILES: Yes, you know, it's not something you can prepare yourself for, and when you feel the buildings shake, there's nothing really like it. I mean, if you're in a boat and the boat shakes, it's not the same. The amount of weight involved is not the same, but to feel the shake move from one -- I was standing up when it happened -- move from one foot to the other, it really does sort of take your breath away, and you look around.

As it turns out, this was not a big one and I'm told our building has some give to it. Some buildings don't. Ours does, so maybe the shake was a little more dramatic here in our building, and again, from that resident out in Yucaipa, he describes this as a mostly horizontal shake like someone was pushing on the side of his house. That said, we don't have reports of heavy damage out there, Wolf. BLITZER: All right, let's go out to Yucaipa. Greg Franklin joining us, director of administrative services in Yucaipa, very close to the epicenter of this 5.3 earthquake.

Tell our viewers, Greg, what's going on in your community.

GREG FRANKLIN, YUCAIPA, CALIFORNIA: Well, early indications are that we're in pretty good shape. Yes, it shakes, just as you just reported, like a horizontal shake. It's probably true. But right now, it is calm and our indications are that there has -- we have sustained little to no damage.

BLITZER: The 1992 earthquake, which was much larger, I think it was like a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, in southern California, resulted I believe in one person killed in that earthquake, others injured. But about $100 million in damage. Presumably nothing along those lines in Yucaipa and the surrounding areas this time around, based on your preliminary reports.

FRANKLIN: No, absolutely not. We were here for the '92 earthquake, as well and that was far more significant than what we're experiencing right now.

BLITZER: What did it feel like for you? Once again, just tell our viewers how long it lasted and what the motion was like.

FRANKLIN: I believe people are still shaking, you know, several minutes later, but it lasted I'm guessing eight to 10 seconds, which obviously in the middle seems like a lot longer, but it was eight to 10 seconds. A lot of noise around the building, and watching the walls shake.

BLITZER: Did you -- did you immediately realize there was an earthquake? What floor of the building were you on?

FRANKLIN: We have a brand new city hall -- one year. It's one floor only, and there was some noise just prior to the shaking. That was -- so that was unusual, just to hear a bunch of noise in the building, and relatively quickly, it started shaking and lasted about eight seconds.

BLITZER: We know that all the new buildings, basically, in California, along that earthquake line, the fault line, are prepared for earthquakes, but the older buildings presumably are not. Is that the case in Yucaipa?

FRANKLIN: Well, certainly is the case for many buildings in our area. Fortunately, we're in a brand new building here in city hall, and so it -- recently completed, certainly built to withstand earthquakes of this magnitude, and I would imagine even larger.

BLITZER: Any advice you have for people listening who may be in an affected area? What, if anything, differently they should be doing now?

FRANKLIN: Very good question. I heard your -- the person just before I came on, and that is, it's real hard to prepare for.

BLITZER: In terms of aftershocks, is that what you're saying?

FRANKLIN: Well, real hard to prepare because you don't know -- it happens so quickly, you certainly can't prepare that it's going to happen in a short period of time. It just happens.

BLITZER: How difficult is it to get earthquake insurance in California?

FRANKLIN: I understand it's extremely difficult.

BLITZER: It's very expensive, isn't it?

FRANKLIN: Very expensive.

BLITZER: Does the state subsidize that?

FRANKLIN: That I do not know.

BLITZER: All right. Because a lot of people have often complained that they would love to get some earthquake insurance but financially, it's very, very costly.

All right. We're going to leave it right there. Greg Franklin from Yucaipa, in -- the director of administrative services.

Peter Viles has been helping us. He's our reporter in our Los Angeles bureau who was there on the scene once the earthquake occurred, around 1:53 p.m. Pacific time, 4:53 p.m. East coast time, about a half an hour or so ago. Peter, what are you learning?

VILES: A quick word about this. This thing was felt from Ventura County north of Los Angeles all the way to San Diego in the south. The reason we're learning that it was felt so far -- in such a big area was the depth of the quake. It was only eight miles deep according to the USGS as opposed to that Crescent City earthquake up north on Tuesday night which was 40 miles deep. The closer to the surface, the more widely spread it would be.

I should add, though, that people out west -- out east where this happened, out in Yucaipa, are saying seven or eight seconds. You just heard eight to ten seconds. It was not that long here in Los Angeles and in Hollywood. It was really over in, at most, two seconds, and I'd even say closer to a second by the time it got here.

But, again, the depth of the quake, we're now learning from the seismologists who study this, eight miles deep. That Crescent City earthquake in the ocean on Tuesday night was 40 miles deep and was not as widely felt even though it was a bigger earthquake than this one today, east of Los Angeles. Wolf?

BLITZER: The further away you are from the epicenter, the less you will feel, though you're about 70 or 80 miles from the epicenter, Peter, and you certainly felt something, certainly not as extensive as people out in Yucaipa, the San Bernardino County area where the 5.3- magnitude earthquake occurred.

Peter, are people, based on the information you're getting, reacting calmly in Los Angeles? Are the news media, the local news media, local television, reporting anything unusual?

VILES: Well, I haven't seen any signs of panic, but people do get on the phone at a time like this and that can be a problem as you heard from the Los Angeles County official earlier. People tying up 911 lines, not because something is wrong but because they want to find out if something is wrong, and the county at this point saying, no, nothing is wrong.

But it's a time when people do jump on the phone immediately and call loved ones -- where are you? Are you OK? So, there's a lot of that going on. But, that said, people in Los Angeles who have been through a few of these can analyze them as you heard from gentleman out in Yucaipa. He said it was a horizontal quake. So, people can sort of give some perspective to what this earthquake was like, relative to others.

Our bureau chief here, Pete Janos (ph), who's been through a few of these, said this one was a quick one. That said, he was sitting in his office and his windows moved a little bit and creaked a little bit. You felt it on the floor in this building and in the ceiling, so you definitely felt it. But people who have been through a bunch here in Los Angeles will say this was a quick one.

BLITZER: You'll forgive the pun -- and I've lived through an earthquake -- you really do get shaken up by a earthquake. It begins to focus the mind somewhat. You're on what, the third or fourth floor of a high-rise building in L.A.?

VILES: We're on the third floor, Wolf. And as I've said a couple of times, I'm told that this building has some give to it, which is a good thing in an earthquake zone. But when you have that give, you feel it a little bit more. So, perhaps if you were in an older that building doesn't have that give, you wouldn't have felt it as strongly as we did. But it translates right to the floor and you feel it first in one foot and then the other, almost as if it's moving underneath you in the floor.

BLITZER: Peter, if you take a look out the window -- and I'm sure we had producers who were monitoring the situation -- I assume everything is slowly but surely getting back to normal in Los Angeles. People are going about their jobs. People are going to take a break, certainly, think about it, get on the phone, talk to their loved ones. But the traffic patterns and the regular routine, I assume, gets back to normal. People are relatively used to earthquakes out in the Southern California area.

VILES: Oh, yeah. As you can see, that's a shot right outside our Hollywood Bureau. And we will have a rush hour here, Wolf, in half an hour as we do every day.

With cell phones, people don't really have to stop what they're doing. They just get on the cell phone and call, did you feel it? And you know, if they know people out in Yucaipa, they'd be calling out there, or if they have loved ones elsewhere in the metropolitan area, they would be calling across the city. But you don't really have to come to a stop in a situation like this, particularly as we've been saying, when there's no reports of damages. But it is certainly something to talk about, did you feel it, what did it feel like. And people here do have a way of sizing these things up -- I'm just learning from this one -- but what was the nature of it, was it a long shake. You heard someone earlier who was telling you over the phone that some of them feel almost like you're surfing, like a rolling wave. This one didn't feel like that. It was more like a jolt, if you will. And that's certainly what we felt here in Hollywood, at least we're 70 miles from the epicenter of this thing, but that's what we felt here, was a real quick shake, and then it was over.

BLITZER: All right, let's get some more details. Susan Hough is joining us from the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Susan, what can you tell us?

SUSAN HOUGH, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Well, you probably have the preliminary information. We have an initial magnitude of 5.3, and you probably have the location already.

The way any one earthquake is going to feel depends mostly on the magnitude and how far away you are. So if you're on top of a 5, it's going to be a pretty good jolt, where as if you're farther away, then you're going to get that rolling motion that people talk about.

BLITZER: This is the third earthquake to hit California in less than a week. What, if anything, should we make of that?

HOUGH: Well, it's something that seismologists are trying to figure out actively as we speak, in that the relationship between different earthquakes, and we're beginning to understand that earthquakes can trigger other earthquakes at pretty big distances, bigger than we realized just a few years ago. You know, we've always known about aftershocks, but it turns out that you can get sort of aftershocks at greater distances.

So in particular, we had the shake in Amson (ph), Riverside County, on Sunday. That very likely could have set this one into motion today.

BLITZER: So let me just get this straight. One thing that everyone should be concerned about would be aftershocks, but those would be much -- of a much smaller magnitude, usually. The other thing people should be concerned about, whether these three earthquakes could yet trigger more significant earthquakes in the days or weeks to come.

HOUGH: Right. Well, that's you know, when triggered earthquakes happen, usually they're smaller than the first event, and the expectation is this doesn't cascade into any sort of doomsday scenario. Based on what we've seen before, triggered earthquakes tend to be smaller and it tends to wind down rather than build up into anything. And this isn't a doomsday bad movie scenario that we're looking at. BLITZER: All right, so just give us some scientific perspective, Susan, before I let you go. Viewers out there who are concerned about loved ones in Southern California, give us some important words what they should have on their minds right now.

HOUGH: OK, well, this is earthquake country. You know, a big earthquake could happen anytime, five minutes from now, it could happen tomorrow. We can't ever say that it won't happen. Today's event could be a foreshock. There's a 5 or 6 percent chance that something bigger will happen within the next three days.

That said, there's nothing about the pattern. It sort of looks alarming, but there's really nothing ominous about it. It sort of fits with our understanding about how earthquakes essentially communicate with each other.

BLITZER: Susan Hough is with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Susan, thanks very much for those words. We'll check back with you as we continue our coverage.

Once again, for viewers who might just be tuning in, just before 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast, precisely 1:53 p.m. on the West Coast, 4:53 p.m. on the East Coast, a 5.3 magnitude, the epicenter around Yucaipa in San Bernardino County, about 70 miles or so east of Los Angeles. Yucaipa a small community, a bedroom community. We spoke to officials there. No immediate reports of damage or injuries, but this is very, very early in the process.

We're going to continue our coverage of the latest earthquake, the third earthquake to hit California in less than a week. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're watching an earthquake, an earthquake about 35 minutes or so ago -- actually, closer to 40 minutes or so, just before 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast, 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast. A 5.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California; the epicenter about 70 miles or so east of Los Angeles, Yucaipa, in San Bernardino County. No reports of injury or damage. We're watching this earthquake, the third earthquake to hit California in less than a week. Authorities caution there could be some relatively minor aftershocks. We'll watch what's happening, get back to that story as we get more information.

There's other important news we're following. Imagine this: Your car is turned off, parked, and suddenly, with no one around, it bursts into flames. That's exactly what's happening to some Ford vehicles built before 2004. Just yesterday, one family filed a wrongful death suit over a fire which family members say started in a 1996 F-150 pickup parked in the garage attached to their Iowa home. That fire killed 74-year-old Arletta Mullas (ph) and injured her 76-year-old husband.

Investigators for Ford and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spent hours earlier this week poking through the rubble of the house. NHTSA had no comment in its findings, but Ford specifically denied the fire was caused by the truck.

Still, Ford admits it has a problem with some of its vehicles catching fire when parked and the engine turned off. Ford has already recalled more than 1 million of its cars, trucks and SUVs. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it's investigating nearly 4 million more vehicles for the same problem.

Now, CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has uncovered new information on just how many more Ford vehicles may be at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire rescue. What is your emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, my house is exploded. Something in my car -- my house is on fire.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A frantic call to 911 at 5:00 in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.

GRIFFIN: A mother in a panic. Her 15-year-old daughter's bedroom wall is in flames.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My house is fire! Please!

GRIFFIN: She makes several more calls to 911 before fire trucks arrive. Within minutes, the fire burned down the Kissimmee, Florida house of Nestor Oyola and his wife Laura leaving their daughter Rotsenmary scarred.

ROTSENMARY OYOLA, HOUSE BURNED DOWN: It's difficult. But you know, we have to accept it.

GRIFFIN: So what went wrong? What could have possibly caused this much destruction

NESTOR OYOLA, FATHER (through translator): I bought the car on Monday and Wednesday it burned everything.

GRIFFIN: The insurance investigation showed the 2001 Ford Expedition Nestor just bought his wife caught fire while it was parked and turned off in the garage. Ken and Michelle Whelpley of Winterhaven, Florida had a similar experience.

KEN WHELPLEY, TRUCK CAUGHT FIRE: How do you park a vehicle, go to bed, sleep all night, and then in the morning, it's on fire?

GRIFFIN: It sounds unusual, but CNN has learned fires like this have occurred all across the country. A neighbor took this picture of the Whelpley's truck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flames were shooting all the way up to the top of the garage. I couldn't believe it. I mean, just could not believe it. GRIFFIN: In Orlando, a used car dealer surveillance camera caught this car bursting into flames. It had been parked overnight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just come in the morning like a regular day and I see a car all burnt up. I'm like, what the -- it was a shock. I didn't know what to do. I lost all the money.

GRIFFIN: And with many of the cars and trucks sitting in garages, houses are being burned down, too.

WHELPLEY: What if we'd have died in this mess?

GRIFFIN: Four investigations by the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration have compiled 559 reports of Ford fires. And those investigations are focusing on one part under the hood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes when we're digging through this, we find the remains that failed.

GRIFFIN: Harvey Michel (ph) is a fire investigator and says he's seen about 30 of these Ford cases in just the last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tire damage is more severe on top.

GRIFFIN: We asked him to look at the Whelpleys burned, 2000 Ford F-150 pickup. Within 30 minutes, he finds what he says is the cause.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's the part. That is typical of the failure of the switch.

GRIFFIN: It's the cruise, or speed control deactivation switch. This is what several fire investigators hired by major insurance companies and auto engineers consulted by CNN say is causing the cars and trucks to ignite.

How? The pressure switch disconnects the cruise control when the driver steps firmly on the brake. That switch is attached to the brake master cylinder on one end and wired to the cruise control on the other.

Ford designed the switch to be powered, or hot at all times even when the vehicle is off and the key is out of the ignition. What separates the electrical components from the brake fluid inside the switch is a thin film barrier. Investigators say the film can crack allowing droplets of brake fluid to come in contact with the hot electrical components, sometimes, say investigators causing a fire.

And those fires can happen whether the vehicle is moving or even parked with the engine off. Firefighters in Deltona, Florida, say you can see it happen in this video. A firefighter was changing a fuse when he noticed the switch in his 1995 F-250 begin to smoke. A co- worker grabbed a video camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had we allowed it to continue it would have burst into flames and it would have consumed the vehicle. GRIFFIN: Chris Nabicht is chief fire marshal for the city of Deltona. He says he's seen at least a half a dozen similar Ford fires.

CHRIS NABICHT, DELTONA CHIEF FIRE MARSHAL: The concern for people's lives and how fast this can occur, whether you're in the vehicle or not in the vehicle, is kind of scary.

GRIFFIN: Houston attorney Mike Jolly agrees. He represents clients whose vehicles have caught fire while parked.

MIKE JOLLY, ATTORNEY: There's no reason to wire the switch hot because you don't need to turn off the cruise control when the car is stopped and turned off and parked in your garage.

GRIFFIN: Five different auto engineers tell CNN the design is unique to Ford. And Ford has responded to the fires by issuing two separate recalls. The first in 1999 recalled nearly 300,000 Crown Victorias, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars.

Then, just this past January, Ford issued a second, larger recall 792,000 vehicles, including 2001 F-Series Super Crews, and 2000 Expeditions, Navigators and top selling F-150 pickups.

(on camera): Beyond those recalls, the federal government is investigating an additional 3.7 million Ford vehicles for the same problem. Now CNN has obtained this Ford document, which the company handed over to federal investigators. It shows a total of 16 million Ford cars and trucks have been built with what the company acknowledges is the same or similar switch.

(voice-over): The list includes recalled and nonrecalled Expeditions, Explorers, F-Series pickups, Crown Victorias, Town Cars and Grand Marquis, some as early as 1992 and as recent at 2003. Also included are thousands of Tauruses, Econoline vans, Rangers and Windstars.

Ford declined our requests for an on camera interview. But in a statement to CNN, Ford says its records show the risk of fire differs for make, model and year. They say, quote, "it's important to understand that all speed control systems are not identical in Ford vehicles. In those populations with an increasing fire report rate, we stopped using the switch through the recall process. The switch has performed well in many models for many years."

Nearly half of those 559 Ford fires reported to the government safety agency as originating in the cruise control switch were in cars and trucks from model years not recalled. That includes the Expeditions owned by the Oyolas and that Orlando car dealer.

NABICHT: They've taken the step by recalling certain models of vehicles. I think the recall probably needs to be much broader than what it is.

GRIFFIN: Ford's response to that? "We have been asked why we have not expanded the recall. The last thing we want to do is make an important safety decision on incorrect or incomplete information." Ford did recall the Mercury Grand Marquis made in 1992 and 1993 but not the 1994 model year.

SANDRA GONZALEZ, HOUSE BURNED DOWN: We just drove by and everything was gone.

GRIFFIN: Sandra and Ramon Gonzalez of Mission, Texas, owned a nonrecalled 1994 Grand Marquis. It burned in their garage two years ago, taking their home with it.

RAMON GONZALEZ, HOUSE BURNED DOWN: Everything was destroyed. Everything. Everything. Completely.

GRIFFIN: In a lawsuit against Ford, three fire investigators hired by the Gonzalez' insurance company blamed the cruise control switch, the same switch recalled in the previous two model years.

Of the Gonzalez' fire, Ford told CNN there's no evidence that the fire actually originated in the Grand Marquis, let alone in the switch. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its investigators couldn't find a safety defect trend in the '94 through '97 Grand Marquis model years. And there was no recall of those years.

So what does Ford say is the reason the switch catches fire? Again, Ford wouldn't agree to be interviewed for this report. But this is what the company told us in an e-mail.

"We have not determined at this time that there is a defect with the switch. But for reasons we still do not understand, the switch is failing. And we are trying to understand why."

Ford says it's cooperating with a federal investigation into the fires. As for the switch, Ford has stopped using it. And is now using a new switch as of the 2004 model year. In the meantime, the Oyolas who made that desperate 911 call when their nonrecalled SUV caught fire, are left to pick up their lives.

LAURA HERNANDEZ, HOUSE BURNED DOWN (through translator): Here, there is nothing to replace, nothing. I was left with nothing.

GRIFFIN: Firefighters found the family cat burned to death in this corner.

This is where Laura's daughter Rosemary (ph) dialed 911. As the Expedition was burning in the garage just a few feet away, she escaped with burns to her legs.

For Nestor Oyola, the father, it's hard to talk about it. The night before the fire, he moved his wife's Expedition in the garage hoping to keep it safe. He says he'll never forget it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And, CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin is joining us now, live. Drew, what should I do, for example, or our viewers do, if they think they have a car with this kind of switch?

GRIFFIN: It's a big question, and as we reported, Wolf, for 16 million vehicles out there. If your car has been recalled, you should've gotten a note from Ford saying, you should bring the car or the vehicle down to the dealership like this one and have that cruise control disconnected.

If you're outside of the recalled cars, Ford says your car is fine, but the experts that we've been talking to, Wolf, says you should pay to have that cruise control disconnected. It costs about $100, and as uncomfortable as this sounds, at the very least, those experts say, you shouldn't park your vehicle near your house.

BLITZER: What happens, has happened, Drew, to the families you profiled in your piece? Have they been able to get any compensation?

GRIFFIN: Most have gotten something through their own insurance companies. The Oyolas, the family that lost their cat, did not get enough to replace their house. They have been renting a home now for about the last few weeks, and they're hoping to settle with Ford. The other families are in the process of either trying to settle or suing Ford, and keep in mind that Ford has settled hundreds of these cases across the country, Wolf, but admitted fault in none of them.

BLITZER: What does Ford say about that Iowa death that you mentioned earlier?

Reporter: As you reported, Ford is denying that the fire actually started in that truck, which then spread to the house and killed that woman. The family and their attorney obviously has a different opinion, but Ford did write us this e-mail in response saying, "Unfortunately, fires happen every year in all makes and models of all manufacturers for a number of reasons, including faulty repair, improper modification to the vehicle with after-market parts and wiring, prior accident damage, and even arson," Wolf. The family contending it was the switch. That's why they're pressing ahead with that lawsuit.

BLITZER: Andrew, the federal government now. What does the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying about the 16 million cars with this particular switch?

GRIFFIN: That's a good question and I wish we had a better answer from the federal government on this. What they are telling us is the investigation is ongoing. They're not doing any recommendations until they come to a conclusion and they are asking Ford for all documents, all information, that pertained to any fires in those 16 million vehicles.

BLITZER: Drew Griffin has done excellent journalism for us here at CNN. Drew, thanks very much for that report. We'll continue to monitor the fallout. Drew Griffin, reporting for us. Good work.

We'll take another quick break. When we come back, we'll update you on the 5.3 earthquake, the magnitude earthquake that has rocked California a little bit more than one hour ago, an earthquake in southern California. We'll have the latest information. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. We're watching the fallout from that earthquake that occurred about an hour or so ago in southern California. Peter Viles is joining us from our Los Angeles bureau, the epicenter about 70 miles or so east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County and Yucaipa to be specific. What's the latest information we have, Peter?

VILES: Well, the news right now, Wolf, is no news is good news. No reports of serious damages or injuries yet. I'm sure we're going to have some damages to some homes out there because we've talked to some people in Yucaipa who've said their homes shook. The glass shook, things fell off the cases and what not.

But, again, no serious injuries in Yucaipa, as you say, 70 miles east of Los Angeles, a bedroom community in San Bernardino County, of about 45,000 people. This is not really a rural area. It's more suburban area.

I think by the end of the night the big headline here, Wolf, maybe that this is the third big earthquake to hit California since Sunday. We had one Sunday in the desert southwest of here, a 5.2. Then the 7.2 up on the coast off of northern California, and now this one. So three earthquakes since Sunday in southern California, and a word about aftershocks. This from the USGS.

"The probability of a strong and possibly damaging aftershock," that's 5.0 or greater, "in the next seven days," according to the USGS at this time, "is approximately 10 percent." So, we do have to keep an eye out for possible aftershocks here. But again, the headline, 5.3 in Yucaipa, 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, felt up and down southern California from Ventura County all the way down to San Diego, but no major damages or injuries, Wolf.

BLITZER: The area that the -- the area that this earthquake was felt, that seems to be a pretty large area for what's being described as a moderate 5.3 magnitude earthquake. The area that people felt it seems to be pretty significant.

VILES: It could be because -- and I'm not an expert on these things, but it could be because this earthquake was not very deep, as opposed to that earthquake up north on Tuesday night that caused the tsunami warning off the coast. That was 40 miles below the earth's surface. This one, only eight miles below the earth's surface. So, that could speak partly to why it's been felt up and down the coast here.

But that's pretty much all of southern California. When you talk about Ventura County down to San Diego County, that's pretty much all of southern California feeling this thing, and I can tell you, we certainly felt it here in Hollywood. No damages here, but you felt it. The floor shook, the ceiling shook, and some of the windows shook a little bit. So I understand why people are shaken up by these things.

BLITZER: And we spoke to an expert earlier who said yes, this is the third earthquake that has rocked California since Sunday, and sometimes earthquakes have a tendency of promoting additional earthquakes, setting the stage for yet another earthquake. I assume a lot of people are simply rattled by this.

VILES: Yes, the general scientific knowledge on this is that these earthquakes are not related. That said, there's a lot of discussion here on the West Coast in the last couple of days, could these possibly be related? We're always learning more about earthquakes, and one of the things the seismologists are studying, is there some way that one quake in some way touches off another?

But, not just the three here in California this week. Remember, there was a big one in Chile which is also on what they call the Pacific Plate and there was another one up in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. So, seismologists have their hands full in the next couple days to try to figure out if there's any connection here. One possible connection is that one quake triggers another; another possible connection is, this is all the same movement if you will, or activity, along what's called this Pacific Plate. These are theories or hypotheses. They haven't been tested, haven't been proven, and most earthquake experts will tell you these are not related, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Peter Viles, reporting for us from Los Angeles. Peter, thanks very much. We'll continue to watch the story throughout the night here on CNN.

We had hoped to bring you our interview with Nancy Grace but obviously the earthquake has prevented us from doing so. We'll try to get Nancy on another occasion. Also, a story out of Africa, hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed. We'll bring that to you as well. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," though, starts right now. Lou's standing by in New York. Lou?

END

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