Northern California rattled by 4.6 quake along 100-mile stretch

An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 in Northern California awakened residents with a jolt early Thursday, with many saying they felt their homes shake for a few seconds in a 100-mile stretch, including San Francisco.

The earthquake was centered a mile from Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It happened at about 1:40 a.m.

There were no immediate reports of serious damage.

Boulder Creek, which has about 5,000 people, is about 65 miles southeast of San Francisco. Residents as far north as Petaluma, about 40 miles north of San Francisco, also said they felt it.

More than 25,000 impact reports have been filed with the survey.

The area east of San Francisco has experienced earthquake swarms — when multiple small magnitude earthquakes strike over a short period of time — for decades, according to seismology experts.