Earthquake swarm nears end, for now
People in Imperial Valley experienced a recent earthquake swarm this past weekend.
It started New Year’s Eve day and the remnants of the swarm could still be felt today.
“We’ve been experiencing a swarm of earthquakes with about ten events of magnitude three and larger, with the largest one a magnitude of 3.9,” said Dr. Egill Hauksson, Seismologist with the California Institute of Technology.
Earthquake swarms are common for the Imperial Valley with notable events dating back to 1940 and 1979.
In a statement provided by Dr. Hauksson before he spoke on the phone to one of our journalists, he mentions a recent swarm in 2012 which had a high rate of activity with its largest event being a magnitude of 5.4.
Similar to the earthquake swarm that started Saturday.
“So this particular sequence has more or less died down, there are a few stragglers left so I don’t expect bigger earthquakes as part of this sequence but there can be future big earthquakes and if they occur they would be a separate sequence,” explained Hauksson.
Though Hauksson says the swarm is near its end. It is not the end of earthquakes for this region.
“I think it is important at all times to be ready for a large earthquake there are major faults in Imperial Valley that can cause big earthquakes such as the Imperial Fault and it’s important for people to now think about how they can improve their earthquake preparedness,” added Hauksson
A tip to start getting prepared is to at least have one gallon of water per person for three days in your household.
