Earthquake near Wasco felt across Bakersfield

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NOTE: The earthquake that struck Kern County on Tuesday afternoon has been changed from a 4.8 magnitude to a 4.9.

The original story, published Tuesday afternoon and updated throughout Tuesday evening, is below.

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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) - The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.8 magnitude earthquake felt across Bakersfield was a centered 4 miles southwest of Wasco.

The quake struck shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday and was about 13 miles deep. It was centered 23 miles northwest of Bakersfield.

Several smaller aftershocks, including 2.6 and 2.5 magnitude quakes, were reported by the USGS.

MORE: Kern County weather forecast

Tessa Lovro with the Red Cross said no injuries have been reported to her.

The Bakersfield Police Department, Bakersfield Fire Department, Kern County Fire Department and Kern County Sheriff"s Office all say they don"t have reports of damage.

The BFD reminded the public to "drop, cover and hold on" in the event of a quake.

Gregg Wilkerson works as a geologist for the Bureau of Land Management. He said smaller earthquakes are normal adjustments that occur because of plate activity.

"It"s an early warning," Wilkerson said. "We could have another big earthquake anytime so small ones are good and they release the stress and we don"t have the damage we"d have from a big one."

Wilkerson also said the earthquake of this magnitude was unusual for the Central Valley because it isn"t on a highly active seismic area, like the San Andreas Fault or East California Shear Zone.

A couple Eyewitness News viewers said via Facebook that they had minor drywall damage.

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Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said they had no reports of outages.

MORE: PG&E earthquake safety and preparedness tips

The Associated Press reports that people felt the quake in several surrounding counties, including Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles.

Source: http://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/earthquake-felt-in-bakersfield-centered-near-wasco