March 25, 2009
KTLA News
BOMBAY BEACH -- The swarm of earthquakes near the Salton Sea continued Wednesday morning with more than a dozen small temblors hitting the area.
The largest of Wednesday's quakes was a magnitude-3.5 that struck shortly before 1 a.m. and was followed by several micro quakes.
Some 24 shakers were recorded in the same area Tuesday morning including a magnitude-4.8 which struck at 4:55 a.m. on the edge of the Salton Sea, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered three miles south of the small town of Bombay Beach and 90 miles east of San Diego.
It was followed by a swarm of smaller quakes, which were recorded between 4:58 a.m. and 6:14 a.m. around Bombay Beach. Most of those temblors registered lower than a 3.0-magnitude, officials said.
There were no reports of any injury or damages in any of the earthquakes.
The recent activity has sparked the interest of scientists who want to see if small faults crossing under the Salton Sea are transferring energy to a section of the more dangerous San Andreas fault, which has not popped in more than 300 years.
An earthquake that starts in Bombay Beach and ripples northwest along the San Andreas fault could be the Big One that devastates Los Angeles, Graham Kent, a research geophysicist at UC San Diego, told the Los Angeles Times.
The activity is being monitored by a system run the U.S. Geological Survey and Caltech in Pasadena.
In a 48-hour period starting Saturday morning, 42 quakes shook just south of Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea, ranging in magnitude from 0.5 to 3.3.
The last time a swarm of this type occurred in the area was 2001, so scientists say this is not especially unusual.
Caltech seismologist Kate Hutton said scientists do not yet know if quakes this small can trigger anything dangerous on the San Andreas.
Experts have said a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that unzips the southern San Andreas Fault would cause 1,800 deaths and $200 billion in damages.
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