Series of earthquakes shakes parts of Central California

A series of earthquakes that originated near Big Pine on the east side of the Sierra shook parts of Central California on Tuesday afternoon.

The first was a 4.8 magnitude temblor that occurred 7 miles west of Big Pine, the U.S. Geologic Survey said. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 miles. The USGS described it as light and said it occurred at 3:04 p.m.

The next was 2.9 magnitude that happened five minutes later. That was followed by a 2.8 at 3:25 p.m. and a 4.3 at 3:27 p.m., the USGS said.

Big Pine is south of Bishop on Highway 395 in Inyo County. Damage in the area was limited to some items knocked off shelves, authorities there said.

Tanya Carroll reported on The Bee’s Facebook page that she felt it in Merced. “I started hearing a really high pitched, rhythmic sound and started looking for it. I have my pots and pans hanging from a ceiling rack, with a wind chime hanging from it for decoration. The whole rack was swinging just enough that that wind chime was tapping on a pot.”

Carroll said she has lived in her home for nine years, and “I had never heard that before.”

Esmer Garcia, a Bee reader in Reedley, said in a Facebook comment that it felt like “a car had hit the house.” Online readers in Tulare County noted the shaking was felt there, as well.

Nina Moreno was in class at Fresno State, “and the vents were shaking. I even felt the floor rumble for a sec,” she said in a Facebook comment.

Rafael Abreu, a geophysicist with the USGS Earthquake Information Center in Colorado, told the Los Angeles Times that the quake is significant: “In terms of depth, it’s close enough to the surface it’s going to generate aftershocks.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Series of earthquakes shakes parts of Central California."