Series of earthquakes strikes Southern California

A series of earthquakes — the biggest a tremor with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 — struck near EI Centro, Southern California just after midnight on Monday.

More than a dozen earthquakes hit parts of California overnight, with 13 shaking the state during a span of just 25 minutes, reports the Guardian.

According to the US Geological Survey, the initial earthquake was recorded just after 12:30 am at a depth of about three kilometres.

The quakes were most ranging in magnitude from about 2.5 to 3.9 with one hitting a 4.5, reports nbcsandiego.com.

The latest to strike, a magnitude 2.5, was near Interstate 8 just after 9:30 am, the USGS reported.

The strongest shaking with the earthquakes was reported in Calexico, El Centro, and Brawley, according to the USGS.

Some in San Diego County also experienced some light tremors.

However, there were no reports of damage or injuries at this time.

The eastern San Diego area is particularly susceptible to these series of earthquakes due to the geothermal energy in the stretch of land just south of the Salton Sea, Dr Pat Abbott, prof at San Diego State University, explained.

US Geological Survey seismologist Elizabeth Cochran said the earthquake was followed by a magnitude 4.5 aftershock. In the 12 hours after that, they recorded more than 180 aftershocks of lower magnitude.

Some residents were roused by the alarm their phone received from the ShakeAlert app although the shaking wasn’t enough, @MattInformed said on X.com (formerly known as Twitter).

Cochran said when an earthquake sequence happens, most of the aftershocks are at least one magnitude unit smaller than the first shake.

Residents close to the epicentre would have felt moderate shaking, she said.

The main shock was a magnitude 5 temblor during the last earthquake sequence in the area in 2021, Cochran added.