May 8, 2010
San Diego 6 News Team
SAN DIEGO - A 4.8 magnitude, earlier estimated at 5.0, shook much of San Diego County Saturday at 11:33 a.m.
The quake was centered in the desert, 11 miles southwest of Seeley and 16 miles west-southwest of El Cento and 71 miles east of Tijuana.
The earthquake's depth is estimated at 1.1 miles below the earth's surface.
The U.S. Geological Survey classifies a 4.8 magnitude earthquake as a light quake, not expected to normally cause damage.
The U.S.G.S. says people have reported feeling the quake throughout San Diego County, and as far away and Riverside and Orange County. The quake was also felt in Ensenada, Mexico.
An Amtrak spokeswoman said three Pacific Surfliner trains were halted between San Diego and Oceanside for an hour while officials inspected the tracks for any damage caused by the quakes. None was found, she said, and service resumed for the combined 400 passengers.
A southbound Coaster train, operated by the North County Transit District, also was halted south of Solana Beach for almost 90 minutes.
A Chula Vista officer said it was sharp. "I sure did feel it,'' said Chula Vista police Lt. Fritz Reber. "I was in the building, sitting in front of the computer, and it shook a little bit. I could hear the ceiling tiles jiggle."
"You wait for everything to crash and you realize it would be too late, then, to get outside,'' he said. "It didn't last more than a few seconds.''
Sheriff's officials felt the tremor at their Kearny Mesa communications center, said they've had no reports of damage or injury. San Diego police, who felt it at their downtown headquarters, also had no damage reports.
People reported on the San Diego 6 Facebook page that they felt the earthquakes in Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, Petco Park, San Marcos and Tijuana.
A second earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.7, originated in the same general area, just south of the border, at 11:46 a.m.
Saturday's quakes are apparently two of the several thousand of aftershocks to the Easter Sunday magnitude 7.2 quake, which killed two people in Mexicali and caused about $91 million on the U.S. side of the border.
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Two-Earthquakes-Shake-San-Diego/HR4dG5Ktck64I0z8uMBbDQ.cspx