Three earthquakes off the California coast shook Catalina Island in the last 24 hours. The most recent was reported as a 4.7 quake which struck the ocean floor west of the Island at approximately 2:50 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey. An earlier quake, which struck about 14 minutes earlier, measured a whopping 6.3. The smallest of the quakes was a 2.8.
Three earthquakes off the California coast shook Catalina Island in the last 24 hours. The most recent was reported as a 4.7 quake which struck the ocean floor west of the Island at approximately 2:50 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey. An earlier quake, which struck about 14 minutes earlier, measured a whopping 6.3. The smallest of the quakes was a 2.8.
Early earthquake magnitude reports are preliminary and subject to revision. Each order of magnitude is 10 times greater than the previous. So a 2.0 quake is 10 times greater than a 1.0 and so on.
"Earthquake magnitudes are measures of earthquake size calculated from ground motion recorded on seismographs," according to the Associated Press Stylebook. "The Richter scale, named for Dr. Charles F. Richter, is no longer widely used. Magnitudes are usually reported simply as magnitude 6.7, for example."
The Islander will update this story as it develops.
