Magnitude 4.4 earthquake rocks Los Angeles area

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck just outside of Los Angeles on Monday, rattling early morning commuters across a wide swath of Southern California but causing no damage or injury. The quake, which was initially registered by the U.S. Geological Survey as a 4.7, struck shortly before 6:30 a.m. local time and was centered about 6 miles north-northwest of Westwood, California. The shaking was felt as far away as Orange County to the south and Palmdale to the east, but authorities said they had received no reports of damage or injury and no water main breaks or power outages. Some commuter trains were halted while crews inspected the tracks for damage. "While it appears the greatest impact of this temblor was a rude awakening, we are executing our post-earthquake protocols to survey our neighborhoods and critical infrastructure," Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. "As a precaution, personnel from all 106 fire stations have deployed into their local communities to survey the neighborhood and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and communications facilities," Garcetti said. (Reporting by Scott Malone and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Cynthia Osterman)