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.
