While residents of Southern California sought cover from Hurricane Hilary, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck.
Since its epicenter was northwest of Los Angeles, the hashtag #hurriquake quickly became popular on social media.
The hurricane was not particularly destructive, and it has since been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.
More than 100 fire stations are examining buildings for damage, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
In a tweet, Ms. Bass stated that there had been no initial reports of earthquake-related casualties or building damage.
The earthquake near Ojai was “interesting,” according to seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, and it was the “first time we’ve had a five since 1932 in almost this location, and even within the Ventura basin.”
Over the coming days, she forewarned, there might be more aftershocks.
Due to the earthquake and post-tropical cyclone Hilary, many locals were unclear of where to seek shelter.
Regan Morris, a correspondent for BBC News, claimed that she was taking her dog for a walk when her phone’s emergency alert system sounded.
She could hear other neighbors shouting inside their homes as the earthquake hit, and one of her neighbors sprinted out of his house in a panic, stating he didn’t know where to go.
Another video taken inside a supermarket showed products falling off the shelves as the earthquake hit, and a guy running out of the store with his daughter.
The National Hurricane Service warned that the storm’s “ongoing and historic” rainfall might result in flooding that could be fatal or locally catastrophic, as well as other problems like mudslides and landslides.
With more than 7,500 troops sent to assist residents in storm preparation, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared an emergency in most of Southern California.
Due to the heavy rain, residents in San Bernadino County were forced to flee. The National Weather Service also issued a warning about life-threatening floods in Ventura County after nearly two inches (five centimeters) of rain fell there in only two hours.
San Bernardino County posted videos to social media showing how rainwater washed pebbles onto roadways as trucks plowed through the muck.
Already, the storm has brought substantial rain to often dry desert regions. Because the land there would struggle to absorb the water, experts cautioned that certain places were more vulnerable to flash flooding.
That occurred, according to Mr. Newsom, in places like Palm Springs, a well-known desert town that saw its wettest hour ever.
Intense rainfall caused parts of Death Valley, which is renowned for having some of the highest temperatures on Earth, to become inundated.
Since hurricanes are typically suppressed by the region’s dry air, chilly ocean, and wind conditions off the coast, tropical storms are infrequent there.
According to CBS News reporter Jason Allen, the storm was “completely unprecedented,” and it left many locals perplexed.
I overheard a man picking up sandbags at a station say, “I live in the desert. I’m not meant to be doing this, he said to CBS.