Magnitude 5.2 earthquake in San Diego County shakes most of Southern California

Gary Robbins and Teri Figueroa, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Apr 14, 2025

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SAN DIEGO — A magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred three miles south of Julian at 10:08 a.m. Pacific time Monday, causing shaking that was felt as far to the northwest as Oxnard and as far to the northeast as Palm Springs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The strongest shaking was reported in an around Julian, Ramona, San Diego Country Estates, Pine Valley and Cuyamaca Ranch State Park, USGS said. Through 11 a.m. Monday, the quake had produced three aftershocks in the 3.0 to 3.5 range.

The temblor started 8.3 miles deep, immediately south of the Elsinore fault zone, one of the busiest seismic zones in California, according to the USGS. The earthquake is likely to be followed by many smaller aftershocks.

The fault extends through parts of San Diego and Imperial counties and is capable of producing quakes in the range of magnitude 6.5 to 7.5.

The shaking tossed around several items at The Barn Vintage Marketplace in Santa Ysabel. Owner Brandi Smothers was in the kitchen at her nearby home when her antique pottery “came flying off the shelves.”

She was also shocked into a very brief panic when the earthquake alarm on her phone started going off in the bluetooth in her ear. Smothers headed to her barn and found old antique mirrors “down off the shelves and broken.”

The second story was a little harder hit. “Anything that could fall is on the ground.” Still, she said, “I’m thinking we probably got away OK.”

The San Diego Museum of Fine Art in Balboa Park briefly closed so that it could do a damage and safety check. It has since reopened. The quake also produced shaking that was strong enough to be noticed on the 14th floor of the federal courthouse in San Diego.

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