Danny DeVito and Patricia Heaton were among the Hollywood stars rocked when an earthquake hit Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.

A 4.2-magnitude quake, centered 24 miles northwest of downtown L.A., shook the city and several aftershocks followed.

The former "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Heaton quickly took to Twitter, asking fans, "Was there an earthquake in LA? My desk just shook like crazy", before adding: "Whoohoo! Earthquake LA! Life is precarious, people - carpe diem!"

Pauley Perrette was on the set of her hit series "NCIS" at the time of the tremors, and she updated her followers on the situation at the TV studios.

In a series of posts, she writes, "4.2 magnitude centered right here by the #NCIS stage. All is well, lots of equipment shook. Another after shock. Keeps going. It's right underneath us at #NCIS but all's well."

DeVito took the opportunity to joke, "Earthquake? Or a small dog fart? 4.2 nice adjustment", while singer Sam Sparro also felt the quake: "That was an earthquake? I thought people were doing it upstairs."