Yuma may feel aftershocks for weeks

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Baja California Sunday may have lasted about a minute, but Yumans could be feeling its effects for weeks to come.

Julie Dutton, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), said aftershocks, varying in intensity, are possible in the Yuma area for weeks.

"With this (earthquake), Haiti and Chile, they've all had a pretty good aftershock series. Some earthquakes are like that."

In contrast, she said other earthquakes could have one big shock and nothing after.

Dutton said more than 100 aftershocks have been recorded in the area, with more reports coming in all the time. She said Yumans will frequently have aftershocks with a magnitude of 1 or 2, but some as high as magnitude 5 are possible.

It's because the 7.2 earthquake that hit 38 miles south southeast of Mexicali Sunday released pressure along the tectonic plates, said Dutton.

There are many fault lines from the north to the south, she said, which run parallel to the famous San Andreas Fault. Faults in the area extend all the way down to the Sea of Cortez.

While Dutton said researchers aren't quite sure which fault was home to Sunday's big earthquake, they do know that aftershocks of varying magnitudes are erupting all through the other faults in the area.

"The movement in the area caused all these other areas to release stress," she said.

At least two deaths have been reported in Mexico as a result of the 7.2 earthquake.

There is "pretty significant damage to houses (in the Mexicali area)," said Dutton, though there is no widespread reported damage in the Yuma area.

Dutton said there are more than 74,000 responses to the "Did you feel it?" question on the USGS site, and many in the Yuma area experienced between a magnitude 5.0 and 7.0 earthquake.

Even a 5.0 earthquake is "pretty significant," she said.

In Yuma County, officials were on hand Sunday, said emergency operations manager Gretchen Robinson while giving an annual report at the Yuma County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday. Though there was no damage to the area, Robinson said she was communicating with officials, assessing the situation and following up on word about the quake.

In Southern California Sunday, residents experienced about a  magnitude 4 or 5,  decreasing to about a magnitude 3 and weaker up through San Diego and north.

There is no way to currently predict an earthquake, Dutton said. Sometimes a series of smaller tremors is an indication that a larger one will follow - and sometimes it's not, she said.

One thing is for certain, she said: "It's a seismically active region."

For more information about the 7.2 earthquake, including how to report what you felt Sunday, visit http://earthquake.usgs.gov.