Earthquake rocks S. Calif.

''The earth bucked. That's what it felt like,'' said Scott Farwell, managing editor of the Ridgecrest Daily Independent, ''It shook for a good long while, maybe as long as 30 to 40 seconds.'' He said he was at a bowling alley when the quake hit at 4:27 p.m., ''and all the pins fell down.'' The magnitude-5.5 quake was centered 10 miles north of Ridgecrest, said Jay Aller, a spokesman for California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. A magnitude-5.4 earthquake centered in the same area hit on Aug. 17. Yesterday's quake was felt in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties, and as far away as Las Vegas. Ridgecrest, population 28,000, is about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Floyd Hickey, who lives in Tehachapi, about 65 miles southwest of Ridgecrest, said he was laying on the couch ''and the couch just started moving and I thought the house was being exorcised or something.'' He said the sofa ''moved maybe four or five inches across the room and the coffee table was moving a little bit. It was like a strange phenomena,'' he said. The quake also moved furniture at the Ridgecrest sheriff's station, Kern County sheriff's Deputy Steve Snead said. He said authorities did not immediately receive any reports of damage or injuries. Farwell said he drove across town and didn't see any damage.