Four small earthquakes shake Southern California

At least four small earthquakes in eastern San Diego County were felt as far away as Hemet today.

Automated seismographs measured a magnitude 3.9 quake at 7:09 a.m., and a magnitude 3.8 just 51 seconds later. Both had epicenters in the seismically- active valley at the eastern base of the Laguna Mountains, about 55 miles east of San Diego.

At 9:33 a.m., there was a 3.3 quake in the same general area.

They were preceded by a magnitude 3.0 quake in the same area at 7:19 p.m. Friday, and more than a half dozen quakes in the 2.4 magnitude or less range.

The epicenters were estimated to be 18 or 19 miles northwest of Ocotillo. All the reports were preliminary, automated accounts.

People as far away as Mission Viejo and Hemet checked in on a USGS reporting web page that they felt the quake, as well as people across a large swath of eastern and northern San Diego County.