5.7 Mag Quake Shakes Southern California
(source: Fox News)
USGS shakemap shows the earthquake epicenter east of San Diego, near the Mexico border.SAN DIEGO -- The California-Mexico border region was rocked by a magnitude-5.9 quake Monday, rattling nerves from San Diego north to Orange County and Los Angeles.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered five miles southeast of Ocotillo in Imperial County -- about 85 miles east of San Diego. It struck Monday at about 9:26 p.m. PDT and has been followed by dozens of aftershocks.
San Diego County Office of Emergency Services made a round of calls to all cities in the county and found no reports of significant damage. Louis Fuentes, chairman of the Imperial County board of supervisors, said he had no immediate reports of damage.
"As soon as it hit, my wife said, 'Grab the baby.' My daughter ran out to the back yard," said Fuentes, who was in his garage in Calexico, about 30 miles east of the epicenter. "It thumped really hard."
Fuentes said his chandeliers swayed at his home and metal objects banged but nothing fell off the shelves. Imperial County suffered significant damage in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in April.
"All the lamps, the liquor bottles and the TV hanging from the ceiling shook, but nothing dropped," said Marina Garcia, an employee at the Burgers and Beer restaurant in El Centro, about 30 miles east of Ocotillo.
The quake was felt as a gentle rolling motion in the Los Angeles area and caused a momentary pause at the Toronto Blue Jays-San Diego Padres game in San Diego.
San Diego County Sheriff's dispatch supervisor Becky Strahm said some of her colleagues reported things falling off their shelves, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage or injury.
The quake follows a series of temblors that struck Southern California over the weekend, including a pair of moderate earthquakes that rattled a desert area east of San Diego. Residents in downtown San Diego could feel the ground rumbling during at least one of the Saturday quakes.
At least 20 aftershocks were recorded within 30 minutes of Monday's earthquake, with the largest measuring at magnitude-4.1.
More than 1,000 people reported feeling the shaking, according to online citizen reports compiled by the USGS. The strongest shaking was felt in San Diego County.
The latest quake struck just two months after the deadly Easter Sunday magnitude-7.2 quake that shook Baja California and Southern California. Monday's quake occurred in the aftershock zone of the Easter quake, said USGS geophysicist Rafael Abreu.
"It's still too early to say," if it was an aftershock, Abreu said.
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