LA shaken by three more small earthquakes north of Malibu

Three small earthquakes struck north of Malibu on Monday morning, just four days after a magnitude 4.7 quake was reported in the same area on the Pacific coast.

The first earthquake on Monday, a magnitude 3.76 quake, was reported at 4:22 a.m. about a mile north of Malibu, just west of Kanan Dume Road, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The second quake, at 5:05 a.m., had a magnitude of 1.7 and the third, at 7:05 a.m., had a magnitude of 2.8, both in the same area as the first.

Monday’s quakes are part of a series of nearly 60 aftershocks that have been recorded since Thursday’s moderate earthquake, a USGS spokesman said. All of these quakes were centered in the same area north of Malibu and on the Pacific coast.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said the fire department had not received any emergency calls as a result of the earthquakes.

There have been eight earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater nearby in the last ten days.

Thursday’s earthquake in Malibu was part of the 14th seismic series with at least one earthquake of magnitude 4 or higher in Southern California this year, said seismologist Lucy Jones, a research associate at Caltech.

The recent tremors are not necessarily an indication that a large, destructive earthquake is coming, scientists said. Researchers have put forward conflicting theories. Some say earthquake activity in a region increases before a large earthquake arrives, while others insist seismic activity decreases before a large earthquake. In short, the recent activity offers no indication of when the next large, destructive quake will strike, said USGS seismologist Susan Hough.

According to a recent three-year data collection, an average of five earthquakes with a magnitude between 3.0 and 4.0 occur each year in the greater Los Angeles area.

According to available data, Monday’s first earthquake occurred at a depth of 10.6 kilometers and the second at a depth of 9.5 kilometers.

Did you feel this earthquake? Report your feelings to the USGS.

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This story was originally created by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes recorded by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the story before it was published. To learn more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.

Editor of the Times Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.