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An earthquake rolled through a wide swath of Southern California late Monday morning but there are no immediate reports of damage.

The 9:55 a.m. quake had an estimated magnitude of 4.7, said Nick Scheckel, seismic analyst at the California Institute of Technology's seismological laboratory. He said a number of aftershocks were occurring.

Kelowna resident Ron McBain, vacationing in Palm Desert, emailed Castanet to say he felt the tremor Monday morning.

"It was originally reported at 5.1 and has been downgraded to 4.7 but it still gave our condo a good shaking. It lasted about 20 seconds and it ended with a large bang as the palm trees seemed to sway at the same time. We went outside of the condo as the roof tiles were rattling as were the windows. It appears no damage happened in our area," stated McBain.

The epicenter was about a dozen miles (19 kilometres) from the desert town of Anza, about 100 miles (161 kilometres) southeast of Los Angeles.

The temblor was felt sharply in the local area and caused a swaying or rolling motion in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Near the epicenter, Palms Springs police Sgt. Harvey Reed said his department received no reports of damage or injuries. There were no other immediate reports of damage in the region.

Susie Bride, a cashier at Cahuilla Mountain Market and Cafe in Anza, said the quake seemed to last awhile but didn't do any damage to the business.

"It kind of shook and then I thought, 'God, is that an earthquake?' It kind of shook and then it rolled a little bit and then it shook again," she said.