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Small Earthquake Rattles Nerves In Oakland Hills; '4 Seconds Of Pure Anxiety'

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An early Wednesday morning earthquake may have been small in magnitude, but it's epicenter in a quiet neighborhood near Oakland's Lake Temescal led to it being widely felt by local residents who were jolted awake.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 2.8 magnitude quake struck at 12:18 a.m. and was center along Contra Costa Road. It was the second small quake in the neighborhood this week.

The USGS said the temblor was felt by hundreds of residents in Oakland, Berkeley and Orinda. While it was too small to cause any damage, it did shake up local residents who took to social media.

"Laying in bed, heard the roar of the ground followed by a powerful shake that jolted my my entire house from side to side!," wrote Heather Alexander on Twitter. "4 seconds of pure anxiety."

"This mini quake in #Oakland a few minutes ago was the second quake in the past 4 days," she added. "I'm hoping this is not a sign that something much bigger is coming."

"Small #earthquake rattles Oakland, CA enough to wake me up," wrote Jim Huntington on Twitter. "USGS says 2.8 but felt stronger and made a little noise. A friend in San Francisco did not feel it."

Joanna Adler lives in an older home. The temblor rattled the structure.

"Being on the 3rd floor of an almost hundred year old building with wood ceiling and concrete walls for the last 20 years, I'm used to amplified feeling of earthquakes," she posted. "But that felt like 4.2, not 2.8!"

Captainswas was watching a late night movie.

"It's not a good feeling when you are watching a thriller movie with headphone on and a slight earthquake gives you a mini heart attack," he posted.

Kimberly Chin was also startled.

"Ok I was awake for that #earthquake and it kinda freaked me out," she posted. "Only a 2.8?! it was quite a jolt."

And Sonny Le added -- "So that was a 2.8 just now... a quick jolt, in #Piedmont-#Oakland area. Yes, an #earthquake, low on the Richter scale, but a jolt nonetheless."

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