5.0-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Central California

Published January 14, 2015

A moderate earthquake followed by dozens of aftershocks rattled a rural area of central California on Thursday, but no damage or injuries were reported.

The magnitude-5.0 temblor struck at 3:01 a.m. with an epicenter about 18 miles southeast of the Owens Valley town of Lone Pine.

More than four dozen smaller aftershocks including at least five that registered at magnitude-3.5 followed over the next five hours.

The quakes hit a rural area near Sequoia National Park about 180 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Inyo County sheriff's dispatcher Faith Felton said she felt a slight tremor during the strongest quake.

Seismologist Susan Hough of the U.S. Geological Survey said the energetic aftershocks did not appear to be unusual.

"It looks to me to be a generic aftershock series," she said.

The last destructive quake to hit the Lone Pine area came in 1872, when a temblor similar in size to the 1906 San Francisco quake killed about 30 people and leveled nearly all buildings.