SoCal desert quake swarm continues

PASADENA, Calif., March 26 (UPI) -- A micro-earthquake shook the middle of California's Salton Sea Thursday as seismologists said they expected a swarm of shakers in the area to persist.

The tiny quake measured a mere 1.7 on the Richter scale; however, it added to the growing list of more than 260 movements that began last weekend and have registered as high as 4.8.

"We don't expect it to stop suddenly," Kate Hutton, a seismologist at Caltech in Pasadena told the Los Angeles Times. "Most swarms go on for a week."

Some seismologists had been concerned that the swarm could produce energy that might raise the threat of a quake along the San Andreas Fault, which runs through the Los Angeles area.

"The risk is probably lower than it was after the 4.8 Tuesday, but it's not gone away," Hutton said.

The Salton Sea is located in Imperial County, a sparsely populated county along the Mexican border and includes large areas of desert, mountains and irrigated farm land.