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SALINAS, Calif. >> A moderate earthquake was widely felt as it rattled a central California coastal area, but authorities say it didn’t cause any damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said nearly 5,000 people reported on its website feeling the magnitude 5.3 quake after it struck shortly before midnight Saturday (8:55 p.m. in Hawaii) near King City, about 40 miles southeast of Salinas.
USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan says the temblor was followed by at least four aftershocks that were greater than magnitude 2.5.
The sheriff departments for Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties both say they have no reports of any damage, but they also report they received numerous calls from residents about the quake.
Vaughan says a magnitude 5 quake is capable of causing damage, most often knocking things to fall off shelves and making moderate cracks in walls and foundations.
