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US state is rocked by fifth earthquake in a WEEK
California reported its fifth earthquake in just 48 hours, sparking concerns about what could have caused the spate of quakes.
The 3.3 magnitude tremor struck 32 miles southeast of Coachella at around 1:39 a.m. PST on Sunday.
All five earthquakes have stemmed from Salton City in California which unleashed a swarm of quakes around a 3.0 magnitude that reached El Centro, the largest city in the Imperial Valley, located 42 miles away.
The region sits on the southern end of the San Andreas Fault which poses the largest seismic hazard in the state.
Southern California alone experiences about 10,000 earthquakes each year and the Los Angeles region is expected to experience a magnitude 6.7 earthquake or higher within the next 30 years, according to a report by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS recorded a 3.3magnitude struck southern California on Sunday, mere days after residents in Salton City experienced four other earthquakes since Friday
Californians woke up to a 3.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Salton City and affected people living in Ocotillo Wells, Oasis and Borrego Springs.
A 2.6 magnitude quake hit the area just one day earlier and a magnitude 3.4, 2.6 and 2.8 struck the area within the same day on August 2.
There were reportedly no immediate damages or injuries reported in the wake of the earthquakes.
This follows a report of 16 quakes with a magnitude of three or higher striking the region in May.
'The current quakes in the Imperial Valley are being called a swarm,' seismologist Lucy Jones wrote on X. 'These have been common in the Imperial Valley.'
The Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed that the earthquake started just 2.2 miles beneath the earth's surface.
People typically only feel earthquakes that have a magnitude 3.0 or higher but it also depends on the quakes' depth and location.
At their deepest, quakes can begin as far as 400 miles underground.
Earthquakes that reach 43 miles or less are considered shallow and will only result in mild to moderate damage.
Scientists previously believed the earthquakes were triggered by the Salton Sea Basin filling up with water which in turn, filled Lake Cahuilla, both of which are located in Imperial Valley.
Researchers at San Diego State University said in a 2023 study that when the lake's water levels rose, it caused more weight to push on the surrounding crust and forced water to recede underground, causing the fault line to rupture and triggered seismic activity.
However, since the early 1900s, the basin and Lake Cahuilla have started drying up, but a 2023 study revealed that although the earthquakes have reached a lower magnitude, the strain it put on the tectonic plates has continued to grow and could cause another major earthquake in the region.
Earthquakes occur when fault lines under the Earth's crust shift, releasing seismic waves that shake the ground
'While the factors of the Salton Sea drying contribute somewhat to stabilizing the southern San Andreas fault, the tectonic stress driven by plate motion is considerably greater and continues to accumulate stress on the fault,' Ryley Hill, a PhD geophysics candidate who studied the connection between the basin and the fault line told UC San Diego.
The link between the lake and the earthquake stems from induced seismicity - when a quake is triggered by forces outside of the normal stress interactions between the tectonic plates.
It generally happens when large reservoirs fill with water and has also been linked to hydraulic fracturing - also known as fracking - which injects wastewater into the earth to release natural gas for energy.
'Earthquakes are more frequent when there's water' involved,' Thomas Rockwell, a geologist at San Diego State University told EOS.org.
This could be why California's San Andreas Fault is one of the most active fault lines in the world, causing thousands of earthquakes in the state every year - 500 of which can be felt by residents.