5.2 Earthquake Shakes Southern California

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June 10, 2016 Niamh Harris Sci/Environment 0
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Residents across Southern California were woken early on Friday by a 5.2-magnitude earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck 13 miles from Borrego Springs at a depth of 0.6 miles just after 1 a.m local time and was felt in  Los Angeles and San Diego

The quake,near the San Jacinto fault, was followed by a series of smaller aftershocks, registering between magnitude-2.6 to 3.5.

The Express reports: There are fears California, and west-coast America further north, are overdue for a huge earthquake of magnitude 8 or above.

Aftershocks were felt across the West Coast of America after the initial quake.

Many people fear it could strike any time as seismic activity appears to be increasing.

In the past 10 days, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher in the same region.

On Tuesday, an emergency dry run of how officials will respond to a tsunami-causing earthquake along the west coast began.

On the west side of Los Angeles, about 100 miles from the epicenter, the quake produced a long shaking motion lasting about 30 seconds, but there was no hard jolt.

Staff in USA Today’s news bureau, on the ninth floor of an office building near Los Angeles International Airport, said window shutters shook and the building structure rolled in waves.

Seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted that quake struck on the San Jacinto fault, one of the most active in the region. She says the same fault produced a magnitude 6 earthquake in 1937 and a 5.3 quake in 1980.

The USGS also reported a larger 6.1 magnitude earthquake on the northwestern coast of Nicaragua, Central America on Thursday evening, near the border with Honduras.

Tremors were also felt in neighboring Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.

 

Niamh Harris

Writer at The People's Voice

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