Several earthquakes were felt in San Diego around 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
According to the USGS, a 5.3-magnitude quake rattled Brawley, Calif., at 12:30 p.m. A 4.9-magnitude quake followed minutes later in the area, as well as several lower magnitude earthquakes.
The epicenters were about 11 miles from Imperial, Calif., and 15 miles from El Centro, Calif.
According to the USGS, there have been roughly 20 lower magnitude earthquakes in the Brawley area today.
In San Diego, residents across the county reported feeling the quake in places including downtown San Diego, Mission Valley, Santee and Chula Vista. No injuries were reported.
San Diego State University geology expert Pat Abbott told NBC 7 San Diego that Sunday’s earthquakes were in the middle of the Brawley Seismic Zone, famous for swarms of quakes. He said he expected aftershocks.
“[The Brawley Seismic Zone] is a broad zone with lots of little faults,” explained Abbott.
“This area has clearly activated. We will likely experience swarms of 3, 4 and 5-magnitude [earthquakes] but they are not likely to increase in intensity. Of course, there are no guarantees on this, but history says they likely won’t get bigger – that we will experience more of the same or smaller quakes,” he added.
As of 1:30 p.m., San Diego Fire Dispatch had no reports of earthquake-related damages or injuries in San Diego county.
At around 1:40 p.m. Southern California Edison posted this update to their Twitter feed: "Earthquake felt in [San Onofre power plant] SCE _SONGS control room. Plant is safely shutdown."
At 1:57 p.m., USGS reported another 5.4-magnitude earthquake centered three miles from Brawley, Calif.
