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An earthquake swarm jolted Central California and the Sierra Nevada foothills on Thursday afternoon. Residents felt the quakes in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys.

The 6.0 magnitude shaking started at 3:49 p.m PST. And seismologists named this the Antelope Valley earthquake centered near the Antelope Valley faultline.

There have been about twenty-four similar magnitude earthquakes in the area in the past 50 years. This one was the area’s strongest quake since a 6.1 quake hit in 1994.

Seismologist, Dr. Lucy Jones, Author of The Big Ones tweeted about the event.

Earthquake Swarm aftershocks

The swarm of three dozen aftershocks followed. They varied in magnitude. They were measured at between 1.0 to 4.6 by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“It’s a region with known active faults,” USGS researcher Austin Elliott said, referring to the remote area on the backside of the Sierra. “This is a classic place geologists go to study.” 

People as far south as Los Angeles and north to the California-Oregon border felt the shaking. Over 23,000 people reported the event to the U.S.G.S. website.

Dr. Jones noted that the quake is unlikely to have caused much damage since the epicenter was 20 miles from the nearest populated area, Smith Valley.

“The M5.9 this afternoon is a classic normal faulting earthquake for eastern California,” Jones wrote. “As is common in this region, there are a lot of aftershocks - 10 above M3 in the first hour.”

The U.S.G.S. held a news conference given details of the event.

The Office of Emergency Services said on Twitter, “While there are no preliminary reports of damage or injuries, this is a rapidly evolving situation & more details will emerge in the coming hours. We are working closely with local officials to ensure they have the resources and support to rapidly respond to these earthquakes.”