Another Quake Rocks Baja

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 11, 2008 at 12:14 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.9 earthquake struck the northern Baja California region of Mexico near the U.S. border today. It's the latest in a series of quakes to shake Northern Baja. And a Sa

The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.9 earthquake struck the northern Baja California region of Mexico near the U.S. border today. It's the latest in a series of quakes to shake Northern Baja. And a San Diego geologist says that area will continue to shake. More from KPBS reporter Ed Joyce.

The USGS says the quake was centered about 20 miles southeast of the border town of Mexicali. The epicenter was 23 miles southeast of the U.S. city of Calexico. San Diego State University Professor Emeritus of Geology Pat Abbott says the earthquake faults are opening the Gulf of California by pulling away San Diego and Baja California.

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Abbott: So you can kind of visualize Mexico sitting there and Baja California, San Diego, Los Angeles pulling away to the northwest and leaving mainland Mexico behind and an opening ocean basin between them.

Abbott says more aftershocks and earthquakes will follow since the region is one of the most active in the world.

The latest quake comes three days after the Mexicali area was rocked by a 5.4 quake that shut down factories and left 400,000 people without power. Officials say there was no damage on the U.S. side of the border from today's quake. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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