12 small earthquakes hit Ridgecrest area overnight

A dozen small earthquakes, each more than 3 in magnitude, rattled the Ridgecrest area overnight Sunday into Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

They were among the 3,000 or aftershocks that have shaken a region few outsiders were aware of until a 7.1 quake hit on Friday and swayed much of Southern California.

Earthquake experts, however, know the area well: It has a history of absorbing shakers, albeit not major ones.

The first series of overnight quakes struck between 9 and 36 miles from Ridgecrest in Kern County from 11:18 p.m. Sunday and 1:19 a.m. Monday, according to computer-generated USGS reports.

The strongest, at magnitude 3.7, was at 1:20 a.m. Monday.

The shallowest one, which hit at 11:18 p.m. Sunday, was almost right at the surface. The deepest, which struck an hour later, was14.9 miles below the surface.

Then, beginning at 2:57 a.m., five more similar temblors were reported, ranging from magnitude-3.0 to -3.6. and ranging in depth from 0.6 of a mile to 4.9 miles. The last of that second series occurred at 5:21 a.m.

The temblors were all aftershocks to Friday’s 7.1 earthquake.