Santa Ana Rattled by 4.0 Quake

A 4.0 earthquake centered in southern Santa Ana shook, rattled and rolled parts of Orange County this morning, causing school buildings to be evacuated and shattering nerves and some windows in homes and businesses.

There were other reports of minor and sporadic damage from the temblor, which occurred at 10:21 a.m. and was felt in Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Orange and Costa Mesa and as far north as Long Beach.

It came 1 1/2 years after a 4.6 earthquake centered in Newport Beach that caused sporadic damage and minor injuries, and a day after the one-year anniversary of a 7.1 quake that caused 67 deaths and massive damage in the Bay Area.

“It hit like a solid punch,” said John Farmer, chief of campus security at Orange Coast College, near the quake’s epicenter. “The ground started to roll a little so you knew it was coming, then it was a big jolt and the building shook for a while.”

About 150 students and staffers were evacuated from the four-story college library but were allowed to re-enter the building shortly after an inspection determined the structure was not damaged.

In Costa Mesa, the quake broke out three 8-by-10-foot plate glass windows in the showroom of the Orange Coast Jeep-Eagle dealership at 2524 Harbor Blvd. A fourth window was cracked.

“I was just starting on the third one when it hit,” said Roy Marquez, 26, a window washer at the car dealer. “I thought I had broke it. I thought maybe it was the soap I was using. I just ran.”

Hospitals said they had no reports of injuries, and police and fire officials said they received only a few calls from residents inquiring about the earthquake.

Caltrans officials in Orange County said work crews were dispatched to check overpasses for cracks or other damage, but there were no problems to report. Pacific Bell reported no problems but noted a “flicker” in service after the quake hit as phone usage increased.

When the quake struck, officials of the county’s Emergency Management Division were meeting about two miles away from their office in Orange to discuss the previous day’s nuclear emergency exercises. County officials who surveyed the area for damage reported a ruptured irrigation line in Fountain Valley.

The quake rattled nerves of those who felt it and set off car alarms in the parking lot of the Santa Ana Courthouse. Students and office workers “ducked and covered” as the rumbling started. Out-of-town tourists trembled.

“It was one big jolt. It was scary, especially because I was right underneath a big chandelier,” said Stacy Farrell, a billing clerk at the Santa Ana Country Club, about a mile from the epicenter. “I ran for the door at 100 m.p.h.”