Seismo-Watch

More Special Earthquake Reports

April 5, 2002

An earthquake measuring M 4.4 occurred on the High Desert early this morning, but although it is likely to have been felt, there were no official reports.

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According to the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) the earthquake measured a Local magnitude (ML) of 4.4 and a Moment magnitude (Mw) of 4.0 occurred at 2:55 a.m. PST, April 5, about 27 miles north Joshua Tree and 16 miles south of Ludlow along the south flank of the Bullion Mountains, in the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Combat Warfare Base. See a Topozone topographic map or a MapQuest street map.

The focal depth was shallow and the automatic TriNet processors placed the quake near the surface. The preliminary TriNet fault plane solution indicated normal (down and away) motion along a northwest-southeast trending plane. This is an uncommon fault motion for quakes in this area, as most quakes are produced by strike-slip (sideways slip) motion.

The earthquake was centered in the waning Lavic Lake (Hector Mine) aftershock Zone. It was the strongest aftershock since a M4.4 temblor struck on October 13, 2000. The main M7.1 shock occurred on October 16, 1999. This recent quake comes after four M3s have occurred since mid March.

Felt Reports
The quake was felt strongest in Amboy and Homested Valley and felt as far away as Murritta.

Aftershocks
A few light tremors were recorded, the largest of which measured M2.4.

Additional seismic information links:

• Seismo-Watch - links for more Southern California information
• TRINet Preliminary Earthquake Page.
• USGS Community Intensity Report
• Waveforms

Mainstream media news reports:

• No reports at this time.