7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southern California

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Goldeneye
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7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southern California

Post by Goldeneye »

LOS ANGELES- A 7.2 magnitude earthquake centered in Baja California, Mexico was felt all over Southern California, rocking high rise buildings from San Diego to Los Angeles, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.

The preliminary magnitude-6.9 quake struck about 6 miles below the earth's surface at 3:40 p.m. PT, about 110 miles east-southeast of Tijuana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

After examining data, seismologists upgraded the size of Sunday's 25-second quake from a magnitude 6.9 to 7.2, according to Dr. Lucy Jones of Caltech.

"This is the largest earthquake since the [7.3 magnitude] Landers earthquake of 1992," Jones said, "A 7.2 is going to happen over a pretty long fault, probably close to 50 miles long." Seismologists are working to determine which of a series of faults the quake occurred on.

According to reports, the temblor's force caused high-rise buildings in San Diego to sway back and forth around 30 seconds before rocking high-rise buildings in downtown Los Angeles.

Caltech officials report that over 20 million people felt shaking related to the 7.2 magnitude shake.

Strong shaking was reportedly felt as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada and Yuma, Arizona.

A serious of powerful aftershocks, including a 5.1 magnitude jolt, were felt in the hour after the initial magnitude 7.2 quake struck in Baja California, Mexico. Magnitude-4.5 and magnitude-4.3 aftershocks came before and after.

According to Jones, there is strong possibility that the area could see a "triggered earthquake" around magnitude 6.0 in the next few days following the quake.

There have been reports of minor damage, loss of water services, and loss of electricity in portions of Northern Mexico. Tijuana Fire Chief Rafael Carillo says firefighters were rescuing people trapped in a hotel elevator.

The Los Angeles Fire Department dispatched forces for a complete survey of 470 sq miles in the greater Los Angeles area to examine transportation infrastructures.

"The earthquake emergency mode is complete and all resources are being rehoused. All fire stations completed their district drive through assessment with no significant damage or injuries reported. LAFD had slight increase in 911 call load mostly associated with automatic alarms and stuck elevators. Again no significant damage or injuries reported," said LAFD spokesperson Eric Scott.

Reports from Disneyland security indicate that the park's rides have been shut down to be checked for damage, as standard procedure after any earthquake.

The LAFD reports several instances of people being trapped in elevators, including one report of a woman trapped on the 34th floor of a building at 10250 W. Constellation Boulevard in Century City , according to Scott.

A water main had burst in the area of Elysian Fields, but it is still unknown whether it was related to Sunday afternoon's temblor.

More than 5,000 Southern California Edison customers were affected following the shaking, mostly with about 30 seconds of flickering lights.

According to the USGS, the same area where Sunday's quake struck has been experiencing quakes around magnitude-3.0 sporadically throughout the week
katied

Re: 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southern California

Post by katied »

I live in San Diego and I felt it..matter of fact, I got woken up from my post-Easter nap by the earthquake.Seemed to go on for a long time, it was freaky! :shock:
beerbelowzero
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Re: 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southern California

Post by beerbelowzero »

My grandma was caught sitting on the potty when they felt the ground shaking. They live in San Diego as well. I was laughing really hard when my grandpa told me about this.
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