May 9 (UPI) — Southern California was jolted early Tuesday by a light earthquake that was felt across multiple counties, scientists said.
The 4.5-magnitude quake hit about 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, north of Cabazon in Riverside County.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was felt from the Inland Empire region to Los Angeles and Orange counties.
There were no immediate reports of damage, but the temblor was followed by dozens of small aftershocks.
Geologists said the quake hit a “complex part” of the San Andreas Fault beneath the San Bernardino Mountains, not far from the epicenter of the 1986 North Palm Springs quake that injured dozens and caused $6 million in damage.
“Historically, the area around Mt. San Gorgonio is the only part of the southern San Andreas fault that produces smaller quakes. But the main San Andreas is not clearly defined here. At the surface, it disappears, covered by the Banning thrust fault,” seismologist Lucy Jones wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
