4.0 ‘Window Rattler’ Jolts Costa Mesa Area : Earthquake: The moderate temblor triggers evacuations, causes some damage and shakes up residents and tourists. The epicenter was near the Orange County Fairgrounds.

A moderate earthquake gave Orange County a sharp kick Thursday, driving students and teachers from their classrooms, shattering windows, tossing ceramic artworks from shelves at a crafts festival, and generally spooking residents and tourists.

The 10:21 a.m. quake, which measured a magnitude of 4.0, caused no injuries and only minor damage. The quake’s epicenter was in the vicinity of the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, according to seismologists at Caltech. Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Santa Ana bore the brunt of the temblor’s impact, though residents from South County to Long Beach reported feeling the jolt.

“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 staff were evacuated from the four-story library at the college but were allowed to re-enter the building shortly after inspectors determined that the structure was not damaged. Two cracks, however, were discovered in other buildings.

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 no problems were detected. Pacific Bell said telephone service was not interrupted by the quake, but a spokeswoman said there was a slight surge in usage, presumably as people rushed to call friends and relatives.

The quake occurred on the Newport-Inglewood fault, Orange County’s only major fault system. The last significant temblor to occur there was on April 7, 1989, when a 4.6 quake centered in Newport Beach caused widespread but minor damage.

Douglas Given, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, said there are many faults within the Newport-Inglewood system. It is difficult to determine exactly which fault produces a temblor when it is of such a low magnitude, Givens said, calling this quake “a window rattler.”

Nevertheless, Thursday’s quake rattled nerves of those who felt it, and set off car alarms in the parking lot of the County Courthouse in Santa Ana and elsewhere. Office workers and students in dozens of schools “ducked and covered” as the earth began to move. Out-of-town tourists were understandably upset.

Dawn Holst of New York City was attending a computer-software conference at the Marriott Hotel in Fashion Island when she felt the earth move.

“Well, I thought it was a subway going underneath me, and then I realized I wasn’t in New York,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, my God, it’s an earthquake.’ ”

Roy Marquez was washing windows at the Jeep-Eagle dealership in Costa Mesa when the quake shattered three large windows and cracked a fourth.

“I was just starting on the third one when it hit,” said Marquez, 26. “I thought I had broke it. I thought maybe it was the soap I was using. I just ran.”

During the rocking and rolling, some storekeepers and shoppers at South Coast Plaza kept their eyes on a Rolls-Royce convertible precariously balanced on four china teacups--part of an exhibit for a British cultural festival at the mall.

The car did not budge.

But artisans at a British crafts exhibit at the mall weren’t so lucky. Expensive glassware, delicate ceramic works and pottery were knocked to the floor. Damage will probably go over several thousands of dollars, although an immediate estimate is not known, said Morris Latham, a spokesman for the crafts fair.

The exhibit is housed in a tent structure in the parking lot of the mall’s Crystal Court annex. “It shook quite badly,” Latham said of the tent. “Piles of things came down. There were ceramics and glass broken; some were quite valuable pieces.”

While not all schools in Orange County were evacuated, students at those closest to the epicenter initiated emergency procedures, many without prompting from teachers.

“Today was very interesting because I had several teachers tell me that when the earthquake hit, the kids hit the floor like a shot,” said Assistant Principal Carla Rush at Marina High School in Huntington Beach. “They knew exactly what to do. There was no fooling around.”

At the 13-story Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, employees said they felt a “bump,” but the cathedral’s massive glass panes withstood the shaking.

“We just flew out of our chairs,” said one employee. “Other than that, we’re just fine. It’s interesting when you are in a tower.”

Thursday’s quake occurred a day after the one-year anniversary of the 7.1 quake that caused 67 deaths and massive damage in the Bay Area. The grisly images from that disaster--played repeatedly on television in recent days--were fresh in the minds of some of those running for cover.

“I just looked around and waited to see whether we should get under the table,” said Huntington Beach resident Inez Cinocco, who was eating in a restaurant. “It was frightening, especially because on TV they kept showing the moments of silence from last year’s (Bay Area) earthquake.”

Contributing to this story were staff writers Kevin Johnson, Nancy Wride, Marla Cone, Dan Weikel, Rose Ellen O’Connor, Lily Eng, James M. Gomez and David Reyes. Also contributing were correspondents Laura Michaelis, Lynda Natali, Shannon Sands and Tom McQueeney.

SHAKING UP THE COUNTY

Here are some of the recent, notable earthquakes felt in Orange County.

July 8, 1986: A quake measuring 6.0 and centered near Palm Springs shakes people awake at 2:21 a.m. No major damage or injuries are reported in Orange County.

Oct. 1, 1987: An earthquake registering 5.9, centered in Whittier, creates havoc throughout Southern California. In Orange County about $8 million in damage is caused.

Oct. 3, 1987: Orange County residents are awakened at 3:59 a.m. by an aftershock from the Oct. 1 earthquake. The aftershock registers 5.5 and causes extensive damage in the La Habra area.

April 7, 1989: A sharp, jolting earthquake centered under Newport Beach shakes most of Orange and its surrounding counties, cracking buildings and closing schools. Five area residents suffer minor injuries during the quake, which measures 4.6.

Nov. 19, 1988: A moderate earthquake in the Pacific Ocean off Huntington Beach rumbles through Orange and Los Angeles counties. No damage or injuries are reported here.

Feb. 28, 1990: A moderate earthquake measuring 5.5, centered in the Upland-Pomona area, knocks bottles and cans from shelves locally and causes some minor damage to streets and sidewalks.