Earthquake damage in Mexicali; quake was triggered south of San Andreas fault

Early reports from Mexico indicate that the border town of Mexicali was damaged in the estimated 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Baja California on Sunday that shook buildings as far north as Los Angeles.

Cesar Garcia, an editor at the Channel 12 TV station in Tijuana, said a two-story parking garage next to the Mexicali government headquarters collapsed, causing several injuries. No deaths had been reported. The government building was also damaged, he said.

The local general hospital was evacuated, with patients transferred to other facilities, according to Garcia.

He also said the news station had not been able to reach anyone in Guadalupe de Victoria, a town 16 miles northeast of the epicenter. Wineries are the main industry there, he said.

The New York Times reported that in Calexico, California, across the border from Mexicali, Carlton Hargrave, 64, was standing in the entryway of the Family Style Buffet restaurant when the quake hit. The restaurant, he said in a telephone interview, was "almost completely destroyed. We’ve got tables overturned, plates broken on the floor.”

“The ceilings caved in. It was big, I mean, it was major," he said in a shaky voice, as his feet moved over rubble and glass and plate fragments to produce a crunching sound.

There are 653,000 residents in Mexicali, according to 2005 census figures.

The earthquake hit at 3:40 p.m., about 40 miles southeast of Mexicali and 220 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Several major aftershocks have already hit the area, and triggered a 4.1 earthquake six miles southwest of Malibu in the Pacific Ocean.

It moved from the southeast toward the northwest, explaining why Southern California felt the quake strongly, according to seismologist Lucy Jones, who held a news conference at Caltech. 

The fault that triggered the quake was probably located on one of the many faults south of the San Andreas fault, Jones said. The fault is probably about 40 to 50 miles long, and probably shook for 20 to 30 seconds. The worst shaking would have occurred closest to the fault, said Jones.

She said scientists would not have enough information to identify the fault until geologists survey the area.

The quake occurred at the junction between two tectonic plates, the Pacific and the North American, that grind against each other through Baja California and California. The quake is probably on a strike-slip fault, which splices through the ground vertically and causes land to move horizontally.

The fault occurred at a location that has been seismically active for the past year, triggering many quakes in the 3-magnitude range, Jones said.

In Los Angeles, no significant damage or injuries were reported. The Los Angeles Fire Department said it saw a slight increase in 911 calls mostly associated with automatic alarms and stuck elevators.
 
At the Knott's Berry Farm theme park, rides were shut down for 20 minutes while they were inspected, said Willie Parker, a spokesman for the park.  No one was stranded on any of the rides, Parker said.

Jennifer Ramp, spokeswoman for San Diego Gas & Electricity, said two major power outages were reported in the San Clemente region and Borrego Springs, located far east of Escondido.

Outages were reported around 3:45 p.m.  About 3,854 customers in the communities of Dana Point, Capistrano Beach and Laguna Niguel were without power. In Borrego Springs, 603 customers lacked power.
 
Three hours later, all power was restored to those in Borrego Springs, but 2,349 customers in the San Clemente region were still without power.

There is a less than 5% chance that the 7.2 earthquake will trigger a larger earthquake within the next few days, according to Jones.

-- Richard Winton in Pasadena, Rong-Gong Lin II, Alan Zarembo and Ruben Vives in Los Angeles

Photo: Twitter Pic via KTLA News.

Comments

[JOHN]

Obviously the construction was defective to begin with. Platform type framing was not properly attached between floors, steel reinforcement is missing in masonry.
I am sorry for owners and residents, but the builder didn't know what was he doing.
7.2 is a huge force, but if it were done right it would cause cracks in stucco and drywall, but no collapse. Probably 5.1 did its damage already, just before 7.2 finaled it.

[Scary!!!]

Scary !!! 2012 is coming is few years. Maybe mayans predicted the end of times.

[Bill Simpson in Slidell]

Check out the USGS earthquake map at usgs.gov. You might as well, you are paying for it. I've got to say, those geologist are on the ball, considering it is Easter. But that is how scientists usually are. Science comes first. At least we are getting a return for our taxes from one government department.
If you search 'subsidence' on the USGS web site, you can read how oil and gas production activated faults in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, and rapidly sunk the land. That didn't help during the Hurricane Katrina storm surge. Nor will it help when the next big one hits. Watch out for that when they start drilling off the coast of California in a few years, after peak oil hits.
These Pacific Plate quakes seem to be getting more frequent.

[Amy]

We were at a friends house for a Easter Pot Luck and the water in their swimming pool began swashing back and forth, after the quaake it got worse to the point tht water was coming out of the pool, there was a river of water from their pool to the street out front. It was pretty wild to see, especially because the swashing got worse after the quake. Wild stuff people, wild stuff.

[Mexican]

The two leading TV conglomerates in Mexico Have not yet covered this earthquake, they preferred to show a soccer game between the leading mexican teams. Not one mention about the earthquake in Televisa during the game, really distasteful..

[marie]

I have alot of family in Mexicali my mother spoke with my aunt within five minutes after the earthquake she could barely speak and told my mother it was still shaking there and lost connection with her we have been unable to speak to them since 3:47 pm our time PST we are worried! My other aunt was visiting another part of our family in a ranch near the epicenter as of right now we still have been unable to contact her at home or on her cell phone , we pray they are all okay. This was definately a wake up call to be prepared !! Haiti and Chile should of been the first two lessons.

[Ivan]

I live in Brawley, Ca which is 25 miles south of the border. We were outside when the quake started and it lasted what seems like a couple of minutes. The water from the swimming pool just form a wave splashed out of the pool we had water inside the house and in the garage. When the quake was over we measured about a foot of water left the pool.

[Lupe]

I talked to my uncle who lives in Mexicali 2 hours ago and while on the phone there was another aftershock. I could hear my aunt freaking out in the background. Good news they are all safe, but shaken up. No electricity at the moment, damaged fence, and a few things fell on the ground including a tv.

My uncle said that was the strongest earthquake he had felt in his life. He
said everyone was scared and not prepared. He had to go to his truck to listen to the radio and hear updates. He can't drive anywhere, because he is low on gas and gasoline stations were closed.

[john]

I am not overly surprised at the lack of relevant coverage as to a significant causative factor of the quake: increased steam extraction from the Cerro Prieto power plant geothermal fields located at the earthquake site.

[jesse]

dear jonh your coment is out of place dont be stupid we can see the house was good an earthquake will not respect the infrastructure strong or not it will take it down well
be more human on your comments.