Easter Earthquake

Easter Sunday this year dawned cloudy and cool. With friends, I attended an outdoor Easter Service in Anaheim. Afterwards we returned to their home for a nice BBQ and socializing. A couple of hours later, six of us were around a table playing a board game called Sequence.

Then it hit. We all felt it...looking at each other in amazement. The light fixture above the table began swaying. “Earthquake” Abe said. Soon a couple of people had left their seat and headed out the front door. I had not left my seat. This quake was a roller, not a shaker. A slow roller is little problem as they are generated far away. A big, local earthquake, however, would produce a sharp jolt and collapsing buildings instantly.

The swaying lasted about 15 seconds. It felt like being in a canoe in the middle of the ocean. Soon everything felt normal again. After everyone told their earthquake stories we resumed the game. There was no damage at all.

A couple of minutes later the report was on the computer. A 7.2 magnitude quake, centered in Mexicali, Mexico. Just over the border from Calexico, CA. Mexicali is over 120 miles from Los Angeles, at the very top of the Gulf of California.

It was the strongest earthquake in decades in Southern Ca and Arizona. In 1992 we had a 7.3 earthquake.

This quake was generated by the Laguna Salada fault, which last fractured in 1892. This fault is inactive for long periods of time, but when it does slip it produces a large jolt. Despite the strength of the quake there was little damage. Luckily, the primary force of the quake traveled in a NW direction, right into the heart of the deserted Mojave Desert.

DAMAGE

There were two deaths in Mexico. One occurred when a house collapsed on a man. The other happened when a man ran across the street in panic and was hit by a car. Otherwise, over 100 people suffered injuries. Most injuries were generated by shattered glass, falling light posts and collapsing walls. The Mexicali hospital had to be evacuated due to structural damage. In general it was a bad day for liquor stores, as shelves across the Southland were emptied.

20 million people, from Phoenix to LA, felt the strong shaking. Currently, in less than 24 hours, there have been 160 aftershocks in the 3-5 category. These are little noticed in LA, where there are 10,000 faint earthquakes a week.

Southern Californians cannot help but wonder if this is the precursor to the BIG ONE. If a 8.5 or 9.0 quake struck the San Andreas fault, there would be catastrophic damage.