EQ - Mild, rattles Palm Springs area

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News - Homefront Preparations : One Thread

SFGate

Mild temblor rattles Palm Springs area

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

(10-31) 00:58 PST (AP) -- ^Eds.: INSERTS 1 graf after 4th pvs, `Some guests ... ' to UPDATE with quake felt in desert town of Anza but no damage reported there.=

ANZA, Calif. (AP) -- A 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck the high desert late Tuesday, causing shaking that was felt more than 100 miles away, but triggering no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The temblor struck at 11:56 p.m., about nine miles east of Anza, a small community about 40 miles south of Palm Springs, according to a preliminary report from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The quake was felt as far west as Los Angeles and south to San Diego.

"It was kind of big," said Renee Scott, night auditor at the Courtyard Hotel Palm Springs.

Some guests called down to the front desk to inquire about it but there was no panic and no damage to the hotel, Scott said, adding she had heard of no damage anywhere else in this resort city about 110 miles east of Los Angeles.

At the Hacienda Motel in Anza, closer to the quake's epicenter, manager Kelly Perma said she was awakened by the shaking but there was no damage to the hotel or the small town that she could see. Nothing fell off the shelves at motel, she said.

People who were close to the epicenter said they felt a sharp jolt followed by a rolling sensation.

"It lasted about 15 seconds," said Cmdr. Gary Jeandron of the Palm Springs Police Department. "We got a lot of calls from people thinking it may have been a terrorist attack but we reassured them it was only a quake."

It was strong enough to prompt some people in at least one office in the city of Riverside to duck briefly under desks, but Jeandron said there was no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

A nursing supervisor at Riverside County Regional Medical Center said the hospital didn't receive any reports of quake-related injuries.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ