4.2 Quake Centered Offshore Is Felt in South County
An offshore earthquake with a 4.2 magnitude shook portions of South County on Wednesday morning, seismologists reported.
The epicenter of the 11:06 a.m. temblor was beneath the ocean about 12 miles north of San Clemente Island, or about 50 miles off the coast of Orange County, according to seismologists at Caltech in Pasadena.
No damage was reported, and among South County’s police agencies, only the Orange County sheriff’s substation in Laguna Niguel received any phone calls about the quake. Quakes of 4.2 magnitude can cause moderate damage, but the distant offshore epicenter of Wednesday’s temblor buffered the mainland from its full effects.
“It was just too far away for anyone to feel much,” said Kate Hutton, staff seismologist at Caltech.
Hutton said that earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast occur with about the same regularity as onshore quakes.
Lifeguards in San Clemente, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach said they didn’t notice any unusual changes in surf or tide patterns shortly after the quake occurred.
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