The fifth regional earthquake of 3.0 magnitude or larger within the last 30 days rumbled through our Morongo Basin Sunday. The shallow magnitude 4.0 earthquake was reported at 7:32 a.m. Sunday morning, 38 miles from Joshua Tree, at a depth of 1.2 miles. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 39 miles from Twentynine Palms, and 40 miles from Yucca Valley. On January 19, another shallow magnitude 3.5 earthquake hit 37 miles from Joshua Tree, at 2:21 a.m. at a depth of 0.6 miles. Another quake, with a magnitude of 3.0, was reported in the same area at 6:34 a.m. On January 6, a 4.5-magnitude earthquake rattled the region at 6:42 a.m. That quake was centered about two miles north of Banning. Residents in the Morongo Basin felt the temblor from Morongo Valley to Pioneertown to Joshua Tree. On December 30, just before 6:00 p.m., a 4.4 magnitude earthquake centered in Devore rattled our region of Southern California. The U.S. Geological Survey said that earthquake shook along the intersection of the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault lines. Fire officials had issued a level-one alert to check for damage. The shaker was felt widely, including here in our Morongo Basin.
