Recent Earthquake Swarm Shakes Big Bear Region
A series of small earthquakes rattled the area near Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County over the weekend, begining late Saturday night and continuing into Sunday morning. The U.S. Geological survey (USGS) reported the swarm peaked with a magnitude 3.5 earthquake.
The epicenter of the quakes was located approximately four miles north of Big bear Airport, placing it 29 miles northeast of downtown San Bernardino, 27 miles southeast of Hesperia, and 40 miles northwest of Palm Springs.
The first tremor, registering a magnitude of 3.3, occurred at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday.This was followed by a magnitude 3.4 quake at 2:51 a.m. sunday, and the largest of the series, a magnitude 3.5,at 3:41 a.m. Further aftershocks where recorded at 5:54 a.m. (magnitude 2.5) and 6:20 a.m. (magnitude 2.6).
According to the USGS, the shaking was reported as “weak” – a Level Three on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. This level of shaking is typically noticeable indoors, though some individuals may not promptly identify it as an earthquake, often describing the sensation as similar to a passing truck.
This recent activity recalls the significant seismic events of June 28, 1992, when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck approximately four miles southeast of Big Bear Airport. While the 1992 quake caused substantial damage and landslides, the USGS reports no lives were lost. That event was felt widely across Southern California, as well as parts of Nevada and Arizona.
The 1992 Big Bear earthquake occurred just three hours after a more powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck near Landers, roughly 20 miles to the east. The landers quakeS epicenter was over 25 miles northeast of Palm Springs, causing severe shaking in Yucca Valley and strong shaking in Twentynine Palms. Tragically, a 3-year-old boy died in the Landers earthquake after being struck by a falling chimney.
Both the Big Bear and Landers earthquakes were preceded by a magnitude 6.1 quake on April 22, 1992, within Joshua Tree National Park, initiating a sequence of tremors that migrated northward over the following months.
