Moderate quakes hits LA area

A cluster of moderate earthquakes with magnitudes reaching 4.5 shook the Los Angeles area Tuesday and Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The first quake at a magnitude of 4.4 hit at 11:23 p.m. Tuesday and was centered 2 miles east of Yorba Linda in northern Orange County, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles. It was followed a minute later by an aftershock of 2.7 magnitude. At 9:33 a.m. Wednesday a 4.5-magnitude quake hit 1 mile north-northwest of Yorba Linda, followed by quakes of 3.4 and 2.9 approximately 2 miles northeast of the Orange County suburb. Kate Hutton of the U.S. Geological Survey told a news conference Wednesday at least 30 quakes were recorded, though only three could be felt by residents, the Los Angeles Times reported. "This is all part of the same earthquake sequence; they're all in the same area,'' Hutton said. "It shook us pretty good," Chris Nordyke, director of marketing at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, told the newspaper. "We've felt earthquakes before so it came as no surprise. It shook open the door but nothing fell off the shelves." Orange County police said there were no reports of any damage or injuries.