San Diego Earthquakes: Series of Temblors Rattles Region
Did you feel any of the San Diego earthquakes? A series of temblors rattled parts of San Diego County on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
The first San Diego earthquake struck east of the city in the Yuma Desert at 11:35 p.m. on Thursday night, jolting some residents awake with its 3.3 magnitude shaking, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
That first temblor was closely followed by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake, which shook at 11:43 p.m. According to geological agencies, that quake — the largest in the series — was just under 6 miles deep.
The USGS called the magnitude 4.8 earthquake a “notable quake.” It struck directly east of Ocotillo, California, which is in San Diego County. According to the USGS, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake can be felt as far as 200 miles away.
Those two weren’t the only San Diego earthquakes to shake the region, either. They were both closely followed by a shallower magnitude 2.6 earthquake that struck in the same exact area.
Later on in the morning on Dec. 1, a 3.4 magnitude earthquake at a depth of about four miles rattled Ocotillo at 5:12 a.m. Later on that morning, a weaker magnitude 2.6 earthquake shook San Diego at 7:43 a.m. Just a few minutes later, a 3.5 magnitude earthquake also occurred.
According to the latest data, there were a total of six San Diego earthquakes the evening of Nov. 30 and the morning of Dec. 1. Despite the number of temblors, no damage has been reported in the area.
San Diego and all of Southern California are seismically active areas, so it’s a great idea to learn what to do in an earthquake in San Diego the next time you’re visiting. Luckily, the risk of a tsunami in San Diego is relatively low because the most significant fault lines are all inland.
Mike Peterson is a writer, editor, and strategist based in San Diego. When he’s not writing and editing the La Jolla news, you can often find him practicing yoga, rock climbing, or exploring the outdoors with his wife and dog.
