Small quake rattles area between SP, Ojai
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: October 22, 2004
Although most attention has been focused on Parkfield, the earthquake capital of California which in recent weeks has been living up to its reputation with a series of sharp and daily shakers, something is also up in the Santa Clara River Valley area.
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
Although most attention has been focused on Parkfield, the earthquake capital of California which in recent weeks has been living up to its reputation with a series of sharp and daily shakers, something is also up in the Santa Clara River Valley area.
An earthquake - labeled a mightier moderate - has been felt, a 3.3 magnitude on Oct. 16 that occurred in an area described as seven miles north-northwest of Santa Paula.
The earthquake occurred at 10:15 a.m. and was felt by few people although a Santa Paula Police officer on patrol called the dispatch center at the South 10th Street police station to ask if calls had been received that a quake had just rattled the area.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the earthquake was centered between Santa Paula and Ojai, a notoriously quake-friendly area in the vicinity of the San Cayetano Fault.
Oddly enough the Santa Paula-Ojai shaker was the lone activity, unlike Parkfield struck with a teeth-rattling 6.0 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 28 at 10:15 a.m.
The Parkfield quake has been followed by hundreds of smaller quakes, 27 such events in the last week alone. The largest aftershock was booked at a 3.4 magnitude.
The Santa Paula-Ojai earthquake was a deep one, with the epicenter 17.1 miles below the earth’s surface at a latitude of 34.46 degrees, longitude of 119.116W, pretty much dead center in San Cayetano country. According to the U.S. Geological Survey there have been no aftershocks to the Oct. 16 earthquake.
The Santa Clara River Valley is borrowed by two massive fault systems with the Oak Ridge fault traveling through the valley just south of the river.
At one point the two river valley faults are only separated by about a mile.
Studies have shown that the two faults are slowly moving closer together.
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