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Swarm of early-morning quakes rattles Los Angeles awake, seismologists say

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A swarm of at least four early-morning earthquakes reaching up to 4.2-magnitude off Malibu Beach woke up Los Angeles, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The other quakes in the 2 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, swarm off the California coast ranged from 2.6 to 3.5 magnitude, according to the USGS.

The 38-minute series of quakes, including the 4.2-magnitude temblor, struck about 2.5 miles south of Malibu Beach, the USGS reported.

The 9-mile deep 4.2-magnitude quake hit at 2 a.m., according to the USGS.

More than 8,700 people from as far away as West Sacramento and Yuma, Arizona, reported feeling the largest tremor to the agency. More than 900 reported feeling the 3.5-magnitude quake.

“Wow. That was big,” read one post on Twitter.

“Anyone else woken up by that earthquake?” another post asked.

“Everyone in la coming to twitter to confirm there was an earthquake,” read another post.

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. Quakes below 2.5 magnitude are seldom felt by most people.

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