Quake rattles San Diego over the weekend

Photo from USGS

Early Saturday morning, San Diego was struck by an offshore 4.O magnitude earthquake. The USGS stated that the earthquake struck at 7:34 a.m. about 19 miles southwest of La Jolla, and 22 miles from Coronado. Despite the strength of the earthquake, very little of the tremor was felt on land.

A dispatcher for the Coronado police was quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune stating, “that she felt a little shake, but got no phone calls regarding the issue.”

The tremor is an indication that our coast is a very active and alive coast, not above the sea but below it as well.

Even though the San Andreas Fault veers east through Imperial County and ends in the Salton Sea, San Diego is an active Earthquake zone, with fault lines such as Rose Canyon, San Jacinto, Coronado, Descanso, Elsinore, Florida Canyon, La Nacion, Newport-Inglewood, Old Town, Palos Verdes, San Diego Trough, Silver Strand, South, Coronado Bridge, and Spanish Bight. Although many of these faults have been dormant for years, San Diego is riddled with potential earthquake epicenters.

Of all those faults, however, the most dangerous to us San Diegans is the Rose Canyon, and San Jacinto fault zones. The Rose Canyon Fault zone runs directly under San Diego, starting at Mission Bay and ending at La Jolla Cove – and it has the potential to be a major catastrophe.

The San Jacinto fault zone to many geologists is said as “possibly being worst then the San Andreas fault in the long run.”

It is clear that we are not immune to earthquakes, and they should be of concern to San Diegans. This weekend’s earthquake only re-enforces the need for preparedness in the event of something larger to come.