Quakes in Southern California

Headlines:

Powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocks U.S. - Mexico Border; reports of damage"

A powerful earthquake rocked the U.S. - Mexico border on Sunday afternoon, seismologists and officials said. Reports of damage are coming in, but there are no initial reports of casualties.

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake at 3.40 p.m. local time was centered about 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) southeast of El Centro, California, or 16 miles south-southwest of Guadalupe Victoria in Mexico's Baja California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Seismological Center of Mexico. It struck about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) deep, making it an extremely shallow earthquake.

The powerful earthquake was felt as far away as Arizona and Nevada, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. People throughout southern California also reported strong shaking, and the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said it has gone into an earthquake mode.

According to a graphic from the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 2,000 people were exposed to extreme shaking that could result in 'very heavy' damage to resistant structures. More than 77,000 others were exposed to violent damage, which could result in heavy damage.

Reports of damage began to flow in hours after the earthquake, and the extend of the damage remains unclear

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Also see:

"Magnitude - 7.2 Quake in Baja Shakes SoCal"

"Mexico earthquake shakes Southern California"

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Interestingly, there have been a number of other significant quakes over the last 2 days:

5.1: Fiji Islands
4.8: China
4.8: Chile
4.8 Solomon Islands
4.7: Poland
4.7: Mexico

We'll have to see of this marks the beginning of another "episode" of earthquakes being noticed around the world. The earthquake story has been relatively quiet lately, as the focus has been on Jerusalem and the Middle East - but we may be on the verge of witnessing another wave of earthquakes. We shall see.