Los Angeles: After months of sweltering summer heat and temperatures in the early 30s, residents of the California cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs woke on Sunday morning (local time) to a blanket of grey storm clouds rolling in from the south.

Hurricane Hilary had arrived.

A vehicle engulfed in water drives through a flooded freeway in Palmdale, California, on Sunday. Credit: AP

While the prevailing mood was relatively calm – quiet streets, no pedestrians and few cars on the road, in an unsettling echo of the 2020 pandemic shutdown – there were reports of flooded streets and some mudslides.

Then, just before 2.45pm local time, an earthquake shook the city for a few seconds.