Coachella Valley Not Immune to Deadly Quakes

Mexicali, Calexico and Baja California are still reeling from Sunday’s 7.2 earthquake. We felt the quake here in the valley, and it serves as a good reminder that Southern California is earthquake country.

We are surrounded by fault lines.

“We couldn’t count them,” said Harry Quinn, a geologist.

Earlier Tuesday, News Channel 3 caught up with Quinn at his home overlooking the valley. He said Southern California is on a hot bed of fault lines, many of which are found near the Saltan Sea and around the valley. The San Andreas is the most well-known fault.

“It’s roughly 800 miles from down here (in the Coachella Valley) up to north of San Francisco,” he said.

But, just because it’s California’s largest fault, doesn’t mean it’s the most active. That title belongs to the San Jacinto Fault, which also runs through the valley.

“So, the Coachella Valley . . . is between the largest fault and the most active fault,” he said. “It’s unavoidable. The only thing you can do is prepare for it. We can’t predict them. We can’t stop them.”

Harry Quinn lives less than two miles away from a fault line, which rests on the Santa Rosa Mountains. It’s nameless, and geologists have considered it inactive for millions of years.

The latest quake to rock Southern California happened some six miles underground, which is considered shallow, said Quinn. Quakes are unpredictable, and possibly deadly. Experts say just be prepared, and hope it starts deep below the surface.