Series of earthquakes rattles South Bay, Santa Cruz

A swarm of earthquakes rattled Central California early Friday, according to USGS. A swarm of earthquakes rattled Central California early Friday, according to USGS. Photo: USGS Photo: USGS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Series of earthquakes rattles South Bay, Santa Cruz 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The ground came alive in Central California on Friday morning.

After a magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 12 miles south of Hollister at 5:58 a.m., more than 20 aftershocks rattled the Salinas area in the following hours. The smaller quakes registered as high as 3.6 magnitude and were felt as far away as Monterey and Santa Cruz.

Officials at the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed widespread reports of shaking but said no reports of damage or injuries were made.

The quakes were the result of movement along the San Andreas Fault system, officials said.

“It’s known as the creeping section, so there’s always a low level of seismic activity” here, said Brian Kilgore, a geophysicist with the USGS office in Menlo Park.

Kilgore said the series of quakes doesn’t provide information on when the Big One will hit as scientists can’t accurately predict future events.

“The bad news is we live in earthquake country,” he said. “The good news is these earthquakes that are large enough to be felt but don’t cause any damage are a good reminder to be prepared. A large earthquake isn’t a matter of if, but when.”

Residents in the area took to social media to report the shaker.

“Nice way to start the day ... A pleasant 4.0 to shake the cats through the roof at 6 a.m. Oooh. There’s another one as I type,” Matzuma Li wrote on Twitter.

“Why am I awake!? Oh yeah.. the earthquake woke me up. I swear I jinxed California by saying we don’t get any anymore, and ALL OF A SUDDEN it keeps happening,” chimed in @ivheather on Twitter.

Nice way to start the day... A pleasant 4.0 to shake the cats through the roof at 6am.



Oooh. There's another one as I type.#earthquake #USGS pic.twitter.com/ZO4i4aYXug — Matzuma Li (@Matzuma_Li) November 2, 2018

I KNEW I FELT AN EARTHQUAKE OMG — rosa #EXO_TEMPO (@rosydyo) November 2, 2018

Chronicle staff writer Sarah Ravani contributed to this report.

Amy Graff is an SFGate senior producer. Email: agraff@sfgate.com Twitter: @bayareamoms