An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 rolled the Pacific Ocean Friday at 2:36 a.m. PST, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was reported by residents representing 360 zip codes and nine cities, the USGS said.
Even though the earthquake was only six miles beneath the surface, the National Weather Service said no tsunami was expected.
The earthquake was initially thought to be off the coast of California, 95 miles from Avalon, but was later reported by the USGS as being further south, at about 163 miles from Avalon.
The epicenter is believed to be located at 31.219N 119.551W; or 137 miles south-southwest of San Clemente Island, 140 miles south of San Nicolas Island, 163 miles south-southwest of Avalon, and 174 miles west-southwest of Tijuana, Mexico.
"The Dec. 14, 2012 M 6.3 earthquake 250 km southwest of Avalon, California occurred as a result of shallow normal faulting within the oceanic lithosphere of the Pacific plate," the USGS. "This event is located some 400-450 km west-southwest of the plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates – the San Andreas fault system in southern California – and is not associated with that fault system. Instead, this earthquake represents intraplate faulting along northeast-southwest trending normal faults within the crust of the Pacific plate, just to the west of California’s continental shelf. The causative fault is not known at this time. At the location of this event, the Pacific plate moves to the northwest with respect to the North America plate at a velocity of approximately 54 mm/yr."
Free Livingston Headlines Examiner email alerts
Comments