Baja Quake - 7.2 Magnitude

mikeac · Apr 5, 2010

LOS ANGELES- A 7.2 magnitude earthquake centered in Baja California, Mexico was felt all over Southern California, rocking high rise buildings from San Diego to Los Angeles, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.

The preliminary magnitude-6.9 quake struck at 3:40 p.m. PT about 110 miles east-southeast of Tijuana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Later on, seismologists preliminarily upgraded the size of the Sunday's quake's size from a magnitude 6.9 to 7.2, according to Dr. Lucy Jones of Caltech.

"This is the largest earthquake since the [7.3 magnitude] Landers earthquake of 1992," Jones said, "A 7.2 is going to happen over a pretty long fault, probably close to 50 miles long."

According to reports, the quake's force caused high-rise buildings in San Diego to sway back and forth around 30 seconds before rocking high-rise buildings in downtown Los Angeles.

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Strong shaking was reportedly felt as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada and Yuma, Arizona.

A serious of powerful aftershocks, including a 5.1 magnitude jolt, were felt in the hour after the initial magnitude 7.2 quake struck in Baja California, Mexico. Magnitude-4.5 and magnitude-4.3 aftershocks came before and after.

There have been reports of loss of electricity in portions of Northern Mexico.

The Los Angeles Fire Department dispatched forces for a complete survey of 470 sq miles in the greater Los Angeles area to examine transportation infrastructures.

"The earthquake emergency mode is complete and all resources are being rehoused. All fire stations completed their district drive through assessment with no significant damage or injuries reported. LAFD had slight increase in 911 call load mostly associated with automatic alarms and stuck elevators. Again no significant damage or injuries reported," said LAFD spokesperson Eric Scott.

Reports from Disneyland security indicate that the park's rides have been shut down to be checked for damage, as standard procedure after any earthquake.

The LAFD reports several instances of people being trapped in elevators, including one report of a woman trapped on the 34th floor of a building in Century City, according to Scott.

A water main had burst in the area of Elysian Fields, but it is still unknown whether it was related to Sunday afternoon's temblor.

There have been no reports of power outages in the city of Los Angeles, according to Department of Water and Power Maryanne Pierson.

According to the USGS, the same area where Sunday's quake struck has been experiencing quakes around magnitude-3.0 sporadically throughout the week.
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HOLY CHIZZ. I felt this in San Diego... Scared the crap outta my family. No damage though...

damanali · Apr 5, 2010

Oh the humanity! The US server is in california, right? If something ever happens to it, damn, i'll rush there and help back it up.

Loonylion · Apr 5, 2010

lol all buildings in cali are earthquake proof, I think the datacentre we're in is rated to like 9 on the richter scale.

MessoMesso · Apr 5, 2010

I felt it at around noon. Just a little wobbling, noticeable, but nothing to worry about. Still, I hate it when earthquakes happen when you're sitting in a computer chair. Makes me dizzy....

klaimore · Apr 5, 2010

I heard. Too bad I live in Australia, never felt a real earthquake before...

MessoMesso · Apr 5, 2010

Well, at least you've got our wildfires.

mikeac · Apr 10, 2010

My house is on a hill. I felt it BAD. In the bigger rooms it shook more.

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Baja Quake - 7.2 Magnitude

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