Southern California suburbs experiences a 4.4 magnitude earthquake

A moderate
earthquake shook an inland area of Southern
California near San Bernardino on Tuesday night,
giving a start to thousands across a heavily
populated area with more than one person
comparing it to a rumbling big rig.
There were no immediate reports of damages or
injuries, however.
The U.S. Geological Survey says in a preliminary
report that t
The magnitude-4.4 quake hit in foothills northwest
of San Bernardino about 5:38 p.m. at a depth of
about three miles, a report from the U.S. Geological
Survey said. Aftershocks of magnitude 3.8 and 3.2
came minutes later, and dozens of tiny aftershocks
followed in the next few hours.
People reported feeling the earthquake throughout
the suburbs east of Los Angeles, which is about 50
miles southwest of the epicenter.
Brenda Torres, 24, a waitress at Papa Tony's Diner
in San Bernardino said customers were a bit shook
up but kept calm. Nothing in the restaurant rattled
or broke and the quake was so short there wasn't
even time to take cover under a table.
"At first I thought it was a semi-truck that had hit
the building or something," Torres said.
Laura Melgoza, 23, a college student and cashier at
WaBa Grill in San Bernardino, said she and her co-
workers headed toward the front of the building as
the restaurant shook.
"I was just panicking," she said. "It was the biggest
one that I've felt."
Tim Franke, a dispatch supervisor with the San
Bernardino County Fire Department communication
center, said there were no reports of damage or
injuries, but the shaking was felt "numerous times"
at the department.
"It was like a big truck was coming in," Franke
said.
Police in the area also said they had no reports of
problems from the quake.
The quake came near the intersection of the San
Jacinto, San Andreas and Cucamonga faults, three
of the largest in Southern California, but it was too
small to determine which fault was responsible, the
USGS said.
There have been nine earthquakes above
magnitude-4 In the general area in the last 10
years.
"There's nothing particularly different about it that
we can see at this point," Lucy Jones, a USGS
seismologist, told KNBC-TV.
Traditionally earthquakes of this size are a monthly
occurrence in Southern California, but "it's been
quieter for the last few years," Jones said.
There is a 5 percent chance that the quake, or any
quake, is a precursor of something bigger, Jones
said.