Earth

Earthquakes rattle southern California

Southern California was shaken yesterday afternoon (Sunday, August 26) and last night by a series of small to moderate earthquakes. The two largest were a 5.3-magnitude quake at 12:31 p.m. PDT (19:31 UTC) and, about an hour-and-a-half later, a 5.4-magnitude quake. Then late last night a less powerful 4.9-magnitude quake shook the same area. The quakes are centered in the desert east of San Diego, near the California-Mexico border. There were a number of other quakes of around 4.0 magnitude in this same region on Sunday afternoon.

USGS reported at least five other earthquakes in this region on August 26. For details, click into the links below. Note that USGS sometimes updates the magnitudes, so they might be different from what’s listed here.
4.7-magnitude quake at 19:21:04 UTC
2.6-magnitude quake at 19:30:54 UTC
4.9-magnitude quake at 19:32:59 UTC
4.3-magnitude earthquake at 19:40:13 UTC
3.5-magnitude quake at 19:58:17 UTC

Reuters said that there were no immediate reports of any damage from the San Diego County sheriff’s office.

Details of the 5.3-magnitude quake are as follows:

Event Time
2012-08-26 19:31:23 UTC
2012-08-26 12:31:23 UTC-07:00 at epicenter
2012-08-26 14:31:23 UTC-05:00 system time

Nearby Cities
5km (3mi) NW of Brawley, California
19km (12mi) N of Imperial, California
25km (16mi) N of El Centro, California
38km (24mi) N of Calexico, California
328km (204mi) W of Phoenix, Arizona

Details of the 5.4-magnitude quake are as follows:

Event Time
2012-08-26 20:57:58 UTC
2012-08-26 13:57:58 UTC-07:00 at epicenter
2012-08-26 15:57:58 UTC-05:00 system time

Nearby Cities
5km (3mi) N of Brawley, California
20km (12mi) N of Imperial, California
26km (16mi) N of El Centro, California
38km (24mi) N of Calexico, California
326km (203mi) W of Phoenix, Arizona

Bottom line: A series of small to moderate earthquakes struck southern California Sunday afternoon (August 26, 2012) and late last night. The largest so far is a 5.3-magnitude quake. The quakes struck near the California-Mexico border east of San Diego and near Brawley, California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). There were several other quakes above 4.0 magnitude on August 26.

Posted 
August 27, 2012
 in 
Earth

Like what you read?
Subscribe and receive daily news delivered to your inbox.

Your email address will only be used for EarthSky content. Privacy Policy
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

More from 

Deborah Byrd

View All