Trio of earthquakes rattles Southern California

Three earthquakes struck the Southern California coast Wednesday morning, centered just off Santa Catalina Island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The first quake, a magnitude 4.3 temblor, struck at 3:47 a.m. at a depth of 5.2 miles, its epicenter about 38 miles south-southwest of Avalon on Catalina Island.

Reports on the USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” map showed light shaking could be felt along the coast from Santa Monica to San Clemente and as far inland as Hemet and Fontana.

Light shaking also was reported in San Diego County from Escondido to Chula Vista.

Another magnitude-4.3 quake struck the same area at 7:32 a.m. and also had a depth of 5.2 miles, according to the USGS.

Reports showed light shaking was felt from Santa Monica to San Clemente during the second quake. Residents also felt light shaking in Hemet and La Jolla.

A third, smaller quake, measuring a magnitude 3.0, hit the same area at 9:13 a.m.

There were no reports of damage or injuries in any of the quakes.

The series comes during a week punctuated by other small temblors in the region.

More than 400 small earthquakes have hit the Glen Avon area in Riverside County over the last few days. But experts don’t expect major seismic activity.

“Swarms of small magnitude events are relatively common in this area, extending from Riverside to Chino,” the Southern California Seismic Network said in a report. “Based on past historic recordings this swarm is only expected to generate events of magnitude less than 4.0.”

The network, a project by Caltech and the U.S. Geological Survey, said the area where the quakes have occurred has “no major mapped fault but relatively abundant small seismicity indicating a local network of small fractures and faults. Earthquakes in this area are probably related to the tectonic loading of the nearby San Jacinto and San Andreas faults.”

Read more about Southern California earthquakes here.