Geology professor weighs in on recent earthquakes in Desert Southwest
(KYMA, KECY) - Yuma and the surrounding areas have experienced multiple earthquakes in recent months.
Fred Croxen, a geology professor at Arizona Western College, said that Yuma residents are feeling the tremors because of the proximity to a major fault line in Baja California, Mexico.
"We get little swarms all up and down this boundary, so it extends into Mexico and it can extend up into Imperial Valley. And that's just a reminder that rocks are under high strain," Croxen pointed out.
In February of this year, multiple earthquakes rattled Imperial County including a 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck two miles northwest of El Centro, California.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 4.9 magnitude earthquake near Mexicali, Mexico at 11:22 a.m. on May 12.
Earlier this week, the USGS also detected a magnitude 4.3 earthquake at 1:42am and another 4.6 magnitude earthquake just hours later.
"Obviously, earthquakes are not predictable. Clearly, we don't have any way of defining that. We just know where to expect the earthquakes because we have active tectonic boundaries," Croxen said.
