5.2-Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Kern County

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake shook residents of Kern County out of a Sunday morning slumber and could be felt in parts of Southern California, but authorities reported no damage or injuries.

Caltech seismologists in Pasadena said the 6:32 a.m. jolt was an aftershock from the 5.8-magnitude temblor that hit the desert area last September near the Kern County town of Ridgecrest, the biggest quake recorded in California in 1995.

At the police station in Ridgecrest, a town of about 28,000 people some 100 miles north of Los Angeles, watch commander Sgt. Jesse Jones said the initial jolt felt like “a sonic boom” and rumbled through the station for about five seconds.

But the department had only received a handful of calls through the day--all from people who were just curious about what had happened.

“That surprised me, because this was a good-sized earthquake--it shook pretty good, but we haven’t gotten any calls of damage or injuries,” Jones said. “Nothing even minor. Not even stuff falling off the walls or anything.”

The temblor reportedly was felt as far south as Newport Beach.

The morning aftershock set off a string of six others over the next two hours, ranging between 3.0 and 3.7 in magnitude, as well as a series of smaller ones. Caltech seismologists said all were centered about 10 miles north of Ridgecrest in a desert area on the sprawling China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station.

The weapons facility remained in full operation Sunday with no reports of damage, said spokesman Steve Boster. A complete structural check of the base will be done today.

“At first it felt like a long rolling,” said Boster, who was in bed when the aftershock hit. “You could hear it coming when the windows in the house started rattling, and then the shaking came.”

The Ridgecrest quake in September was centered in the same location, leaving moderate damage in its wake.

In an unrelated temblor, Caltech seismologists reported a 3.9-magnitude quake early Sunday in the Inyo County desert near Death Valley. It hit at 2:32 a.m.