Earthquake, aftershocks jolt Southern California

A temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 4.4 that struck two miles from Yorba Linda, Calif., Tuesday night was followed by what appeared to be several aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The first earthquake struck 5.1 miles below the surface at about 11:23 p.m., according to USGS.At 11:25 p.m., a quake estimated at magnitude 2.7 struck in the same area, centered two miles from Yorba Linda. The third temblor -- a magnitude 1.2 -- struck at about 11:41 p.m. and was centered one mile from Yorba Linda.Five more quakes followed in the next 50 minutes, USGS reports. All of them were within two miles of Yorba Linda and ranged from magnitude 1.4 to 2.1.

The initial quake's epicenter was located five miles from Placentia; 6 miles from Chino Hills and 8 miles from Orange. The LA Civic Center was 29 miles away from the quakes epicenter.There were no injuries or damage immediately reported following the quake, but all fire resources were placed in "Emergency Earthquake Mode," Matt Spence of the Los Angeles Fire Department said in an email statement Tuesday night.

Firefighters from all 106 neighborhood stations on Tuesday night were surveying 470 square miles in the Greater Los Angeles area, Spence said, inspecting residential buildings, schools, powerlines and transportation infrastructures.By 12:15 a.m., the Emergency Earthquake Mode was lifted and fire officials said they did not find any signficant damage or reports of injuries.Within minutes, hundreds of NBCLosAngeles.com Twitter followers and Facebook fans reported feeling the shallow quake.

"Strong jolts in Whittier. Not looking forward to any after shocks," YeaMe Ceazon wrote on the NBCLA Facebook page. The shallow quake was felt from the Inland Empire to the coast. Residents in Fontana, Anaheim, Torrance, Hollywood, Long Beach and Burbank also reported feeling the quake."I suddenly heard a loud thud coming from what sounded like the roof on my garage and then the whole garage started shaking and creaking," said Jose, in Burbank.

"I started to feel my bed shake and I was like, not again, and then I heard it pop, like a popping sound. And it just kept shaking, shaking, shaking and soon as I got up to get dressed it stopped," said Daphne, in Bellflower. "I was lying on my livingroom floor of my mobile home in Hermosa Beach, watching the Olympics, when I felt some distinct shaking, light shaking, but it felt like a steady 10-second or so shaking," Karen told NBCLosAngeles.com in an email.