Small quake shakes Southern California

YORBA LINDA, Calif. >> A magnitude 4.1 earthquake rolled across Southern California on Wednesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The 1:31 p.m. quake (10:31 a.m. Hawaii time) was centered two miles northeast of Yorba Linda, or 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and occurred at a depth of 5 1/2 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

A quake of such magnitude is unlikely to cause significant damage.

Paul Wormser, acting director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, said there was no damage to anything on the premises.

“It was a sharp jolt, very brief, just one very sharp jolt,” he said. 

The epicenter was about 150 miles from where an earthquake swarm has been shaking the state’s southeastern corner since Sunday.     

On Tuesday night, the Brawley City Council declared a local state of emergency to assess damage from the earthquakes, according to the Imperial Valley Press.

The swarm began Sunday and hundreds of quakes followed. The two largest were magnitude-5.5 and 5.3.

City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore said that private businesses are being asked to provide damage estimates and by week’s end officials should have tallies for both private and public properties.

The summary will be used to seek an emergency declaration from Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brawley is a city of 25,000 residents set among vast farm fields between the U.S.-Mexico border and the Salton Sea.