Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake blamed in Baja deaths Monor Damage San Diego
Mexicali is hit hardest; minor damage in San Diego
San Diego County was little more than rattled Sunday, but one of the strongest earthquakes to strike the region in decades left at least two dead, 100 injured and others trapped inside their homes in Mexico.
The 7.2 temblor also cracked the main aqueduct that carries Colorado River water from Mexicali to Tijuana, leaving Tijuana residents severely limited in their water use.
The quake hit 104 miles east-southeast of Tijuana and 6.2 miles underground at 3:40 p.m.
Alan Sandoval, of the Baja California Civil Protection Office in Tijuana, confirmed Sunday night that two people were dead in Mexicali, including one man whose house collapsed on him.
The San Diego International Airport had a minor water leak at Gate 33 in Terminal 2, which was briefly evacuated while workers checked for any gas leaks.
Sea World shut down its rides to check for damage. None was found, and the rides were running again within 50 minutes, said spokesman Dave Koontz.
The earthquake caused two outages for San Diego Gas & Electric, spokeswoman Jennifer Ramp said. About 600 customers lost power for two hours in Borrego Springs, and more than 3,800 people ended up without electricity in Orange County’s Dana Point-Laguna Niguel area.
In the last two decades, only one earthquake has been stronger in California— a 7.3 quake that hit Landers and left three dead in 1992 — and there were at least two other 7.2-magnitude quakes in the last 20 years.
Several aftershocks were reported including one that measured 5.1 close to the epicenter of the larger quake.
Friends in La Jolla said it felt like a Roller Coaster ride that lasted up to a minute.They said they felt smaller earthquake tremors as I did early Monday morning in the Del Mar/ Carmel Valley area.