Earthquake Swarm Rocks SoCal Desert, Scientists Weigh In

BOMBAY BEACH, CA — A swarm of earthquakes Monday rattled Southern California desert towns, including a magnitude 4.6 temblor that struck at 8:56 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Society.

Most of the quakes were centered at Bombay Beach on the eastern edge of the Salton Sea.

The first quake struck at 6:33 a.m. and measured a magnitude 3.2. More than 20 temblors followed, measuring in the range of 2.6 to 4.6, according to the USGS.

Monday’s swarm “does increase the chance of a big earthquake on the San Andreas somewhat,” USGS research geophysicist Morgan Page told the Los Angeles Times. “So it’s definitely something to watch.”

It’s only the fourth time in the 88 years of modern records that such a swarm has occurred in the Salton Sea area, according to the Times article.

"It’s not necessarily doom and gloom,” given that the last three similar swarms — in 2001, 2009 and 2016 — did not result in larger, catastrophic quakes, Page told the Times. “But every time it happens, we do worry that this could be the time that it triggers something.”

Scientists were looking at how far away from the San Andreas fault the swarm was. Monday’s quake sequence was about 7.5 miles away fault's southern reach, seismologist Lucy Jones told the times. “So this is probably too far away,” she said, for Monday’s quakes to trigger a large one on the San Andreas. “It’s not so much too far away that you say it’s impossible. But probably too far away.”

There were no reports of injuries or serious damage in the remote region due to Monday's temblors.

The quakes were felt in Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties.