Earthquake Rattles Southern California Desert

Monday’s 4.7-magnitude earthquake rattled people across Southern California, but some of the strongest shaking was felt — and heard — in the Coachella Valley.

“I could hear the rafters shaking and it sounded with a loud rumbling noise like a plane was about to crash in,” said Jim Nagy, who was at home in La Quinta when the quake struck at 9:56 a.m.

The temblor — centered about 14 miles away in the Santa Rosa Mountains, south of Highway 74 — sounded like the whoosh of a big wind gust to Daniel Oates of Sun City Palm Desert and produced a crack and boom that sounded more sinister to Steve McHugh of Palm Springs.

“Boy did I ever hear and feel that one!” McHugh said. “I thought a nuclear weapon had gone off.”

The rumbling originated 8.1 miles underground on the San Jacinto Fault, the most active in Southern California, said Lucy Jones, science adviser for risk reduction at the U.S. Geological Survey. In the 20th century, the fault saw 20 quakes of magnitude 6 or higher.
Big shake, little disruption

The earthquake and its foreshocks and aftershocks did little to disrupt goings-on in the Coachella Valley, where there were no reports of injuries or major damage.

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