A swarm of relatively mild earthquakes hit Southern California this morning, centered just north of Fontana, in San Bernardino County (commonly referred to as the Inland Empire), which was felt by some residents as far away as our Santa Clarita Valley….
KHTS received word of the temblors from at least one listener in Santa Clarita…
The official reports from Caltech and the USGS show the 4.4-magnitude quake struck at 6:35 a.m. Prior to this quake, there were several 1- and 2-magnitude quakes over the last few days, the biggest being this morning (3.6) at 4:11 a.m. and another (3.3) about 6:22 a.m., followed by the larger one felt as far away as the SCV.
No injures or major damage was reported, but several car alarms were set off in Rialto, nearby the quake’s epicenter. There are no reports of any significant effects in Santa Clarita.
Seismic activity is obviously no stranger to Southern California. With the recent quake and ensuing tsunami in Southeast Asia, some worry about a similar situation in Southern California. Dr. Kate Hutton, Seismologist at Caltech, says the occurrence of a tsunami is nearly impossible because most seismic activity in California occurs inland, due to the nature of the plates and faults, most notably the San Andreas fault which traverses the entire state.