Earthquake Shakes Southland, Felt Here In The Valley

By Eddie Quezada. News Channel 3 Reporterequezada@kesq.com

PALM SPRINGS – Daniel Jimenez wasn’t sure what he felt as he was relaxing in his Coachella home.

It started swaying back and forth and I thought it was me, but then when I sat up, I started feeling it stronger and the trailer started going forward and backward,” Jimenez says.

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the border town of Calexico in the late morning and rolled into the valley. It was enough to knock Jimenez’s trailer home down a notch on one side. But it was his family he was most concerned about, they live in Calexico. He called his uncle on the phone. Luckily, everyone was okay.

“Being a native, you’re just about used to it you know. It’s like the people in the Midwest. Tornados and floods and all that. We’re used to it, bake and shake country,” his uncle said.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, residents across Imperial County, San Diego County, Orange and even L. A. County reported feeling the quake. Residents we spoke with say it’s just part of living in California.

“My brother called me and he had been laying down and he said it wasn’t a jerk but it was more like a rolling motion,” said Jo Ann.

Mary Schaffer remembers the Loma Prieta quake of ’89. She calls this one a mini-quake.

“Kind of like a rolly thing and then I got up and looked out and the pool looked like a small ocean. But this was nothing like up north,” Schaffer said.

But for Jimenez and many other people, this quake is a reminder that we live in earthquake country.

“‘Are you prepared?’ Uh, no. Not really, but I am going to get prepared.(laughs) It’s a wake up call,” Jimenez says.