3.5-magnitude earthquake rattles Hemet in Southern California, USGS reports

A 3.5-magnitude earthquake shook Hemet in Southern California just before midnight Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The 11-mile deep quake hit less than a mile northwest of Hemet at 11:51 p.m. Pacific time, according to the USGS.

More than 500 people reported feeling the earthquake from as far away as San Diego and Long Beach.

“That was a little shaker,” read one Twitter post.

“I’m in Hemet and didn’t feel it,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“Only felt/heard two slight ‘bumps,’” read another Twitter post.

Hemet, which has a population of nearly 80,000, is in Riverside County southeast of San Bernardino.

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.