After midnight on the morning of February 12th, 2024, the Imperial Valley was awakened by a magntitude-4.8 earthquake. This quake did indeed fall within the wording and alert for the Southern California Weather Force Earthquake Watch. What will happen next?
Back on February 9th, 2024, Malibu had a magnitude-4.6 earthquake. This prompted another Earthquake Watch to be issued here at Southern California Weather Force, stating that it is building across the state for a larger earthquake. The magnitude-4.8 in the Imperial Valley did fulfill this watch to an extent.
With the wording “to an extent”, meaning that it was larger than the Malibu 4.6, but it still does not fulfill the watch meaning for a larger one. The entire region is at unrest right now, and with quakes like this popping off, it will put stress on the California Fault System. The current watch does still go through February 25th, 2024.
Many are wondering if the recent rains have contributed to what is happening now. Although other scientists will not agree with that being a possible contribution to the quakes, this science (me) says that it is possible. We do not understand what happens in the crust or mantle. It easily can be something as complex as the water seeping into the crust for ground water. Water is heavy, so with that much water seeping down, the weight below could also be a trigger.