Advertisement

Temblor Rattles Nerves, Little Else in County

Share
TIMES STAFF WRITER

A moderate earthquake off the coast of San Diego shook Orange County on Wednesday afternoon, jolting some residents as far north as Garden Grove but causing no damage.

The temblor occurred at 2:17 p.m. and was measured as a 4.3-magnitude quake, said Margaret Vinci, a staff member at the California Institute of Technology seismology lab in Pasadena. It was centered 42 miles west-northwest of San Diego.

A CalTech spokesman said the quake was probably too small to cause any damage, given that it was centered off the coast.

Advertisement

But the mild shaker prompted more than half a dozen calls to police agencies across the county from curious residents who wanted some confirmation that what they had felt was indeed a quake.

“They call like you’re supposed to do something about it, like it’s a direct line to God or something,” said one Sheriff’s Department lieutenant.

County fire officials said no damage was reported in the county.

At one restaurant in Laguna Beach, the Beach House, a hostess said the quake shook the glassware, but “nothing broke.”

Advertisement