The earthquake in Malibu is the 14th series of 4.0 magnitude earthquakes this year – the most since 1988

MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) — A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Malibu area on Thursday. This is the 14th series of magnitude 4.0 earthquakes in Southern California this year – the most since 1988.

“We've had this for a few years now, but now we're getting more and more of these warnings, so people are getting used to it,” said Dr. Allen Husker, a seismologist at Caltech.

Many people believe that smaller earthquakes reduce the likelihood of a larger one. But Husker says that's not entirely true.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to mitigate the big disasters,” he said. “The big ones are actually so much bigger that you would need hundreds or thousands of these small disasters to combat the big disaster, but we just don't have enough of them.”

The predominance of smaller earthquakes could have just the opposite effect.

Husker said seismic models show that Southern California is long overdue for a major quake, and smaller quakes are more likely to indicate larger ones to come.

“Every earthquake slightly increases the likelihood of a future earthquake of approximately the same or greater magnitude,” he said.

Thursday's earthquake struck closest to the Malibu Fault, but also near the Anacapa Fault. Earthquakes below magnitude 5.0 are too weak to be definitively attributed to large faults mapped on the Earth's surface.

The quake struck at 7:28 a.m. at a depth of nearly 6 miles (9.6 kilometers). It was originally reported to be 5.1 on the magnitude scale, but the rating was quickly downgraded. Over the next hour, several aftershocks struck the area, including a 3.4 magnitude quake at 8:40 a.m.

No injuries or other damage were reported. Of course, you should always be prepared for a major earthquake.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.