Early Sunday Earthquake Rattles Residents Near Imperial-San Diego County Line

OCOTILLO WELLS - A magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattled the East County desert and Imperial County Sunday, and the epicenter was 69 miles northeast of San Diego, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The temblor was reported at 1:25 a.m.

The epicenter was further described as near the Imperial-San Diego county line, 6 miles north-northeast of Ocotillo Wells, or about 42 miles northwest of El Centro, according to the USGS.

The region near the Salton Sea, along the San Andreas fault and associated faults in Mexico, has also been subject to numerous minor quakes in recent months.

On Sept. 26, 2016, a "swarm" of nearly 300 small quakes ranging from magnitude-0.7 to magnitude-4.3 struck the southern portion of the inland sea.

A similar cluster of about 35 events hit just south of the Salton Sea on Oct. 31, 2016. The largest of those was a magnitude 3.5 temblor recorded near Niland, at the south end of the sea in the Imperial Valley.

By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock