Over a Dozen Earthquakes Strike California in 25 Minutes

Stock image of of a Seismograph measuring an earthquake. California has been struck with an earthquake with early reports suggesting a building has collapsed.

California has been rocked by a series of earthquakes overnight—with 13 rattling the state within just 25 minutes.

The Unites States Geological Survey (USGS) said that the first quake struck after midnight on Sunday, when most people would have been in bed, at 12:36 a.m. PST.

The quake hit northwest of El Centro, a city in the Imperial Valley in the southern California border region. The tremors continued around the area until the 13th quake was recorded in the early hours of Monday at 1:01 a.m. PST.

The National Weather Service’s San Diego office shared a map on social media site X, formerly Twitter, writing: “It has been a busy night to our east…several small earthquakes have occurred in El Centro in the past 15 minutes. A couple of them were felt at our office. As of 12:53 am there have been 13!”

The USGS Shake Alert account on X also shared a map showing the seismic activity, saying: “Good morning Southern California! Did you feel the magnitude 4.8 earthquake about 2 miles northwest of El Centro at 12:36 am? The #ShakeAlert system was activated.

“The #ShakeAlert system estimated the quake above magnitude 5.0 so alerts were delivered to cell phones by @USGS partners @MyShakeApp, @SanDiegoCounty #ShakeReadySD @Android and @fema Wireless Emergency Alerts.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with further details.

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial