As if we haven’t been shaken and stirred enough lately, three separate earthquakes hit California, Cuba and Japan on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. California’s earthquake was a puny magnitude 3.5 (the recent quake in the eastern United States logged in at 5.8), rattling Los Angeles and Orange County at 2:56 a.m. Thursday. The Web site for the U.S. Geological Survey reports hundreds of people in the area feeling “very light shaking.” There were no damages or injuries.
In northeastern Japan, where a powerful earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc just six months ago, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 hit the coast, shaking even buildings in Tokyo. There was no threat of a tsunami, no immediate report of injuries, and no damage to the Fukushima Dai-chi nuclear power plant that suffered a meltdown after the March disaster. Phew.
Cuba also got the shake-up, with a magnitude 6 earthquake hitting the southern coast, some 370 miles southeast of Havana, at 4:43 a.m. local time. No tsunami warnings were issued. One New York-based blogger had her own explanation for all the trembling: “Earthquakes happening all around the world... Listen to mother nature people.