Nine earthquakes in less than 24 hours hit California on Christmas eve, early morning
A series of earthquakes on Christmas Eve and before dawn Christmas morning hit around California, and a much bigger 6.3 quake shook off Vancouver.
At least nine earthquakes in 24 hours reaching up to 3.2 magnitude shook California from the Los Angeles area north to Chico, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.
The other quakes in the swarm ranged from 2.5 to 3.0 magnitude and stretched the length of the state, according to the USGS.
The largest was near Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto mountains east of Los Angeles, at 8:24 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The quake was 9.6 miles deep and was felt as far away as the Rancho Cucamonga and Redondo Beach, the USGS said.
A much larger 6.3 magnitude quake hit Christmas eve in the Pacific Ocean off Port Hardy, Canada, west of Vancouver, according to the USGS.
People reported feeling the quake in Vancouver, more than 300 miles away. It struck at 10:36 p.m. Tuesday at a depth of 6.2 miles, the USGS said.
Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale.
Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech.
