That Earthquake Swarm is Dying Down

The 380 or so small and moderate earthquakes shaking the area around the Salton Sea died down this weekend with a count of around 22 quakes. "The only reason this swarm got a lot of attention is that it's very close to the southern end of the San Andreas Fault, which we're always watching very closely," said seismologist Kate Hutton of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena to the Pasadena Star News. One theory seismologists have is that "a series of small earthquakes in that area could trigger a larger quake along the fault line," the paper reported. Taking advantage of the media frenzy, the Los Angeles Fire Department put the Community Emergency Response Team on guard and hoped that the public at large would start getting more prepared.