Four powerful quakes struck the Gulf of California

Four earthquakes, the strongest registering 6.9 magnitude, struck the Gulf of California off Mexico's west coast. The tremors caused no casualties and no major damage, which has ruled out the risk of tsunamis. The series of quakes began with a 5.8-magnitude tremor at 10:55 am local time (1755 GMT), followed by one registering a magnitude of 6.9 five minutes later. Two more tremors, measuring 5.0 and 5.9 magnitude, followed within an hour, according to reports by the US Geological Survey (USGS), SSN and the US Tsunami Warning Center. USGS said the epicenter of the strongest quake was 89 kilometers (56 miles) north-northeast of Santa Isabel in Baja California, Mexico, and had a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), with a variation of plus or minus 7.1 kilometers (4.4 miles). The Gulf of California is a small strip of ocean in between the Baja California peninsula and Sonora State. No damage was reported in either area. These types of quakes therefore only produce minor damage, unlike those caused by tectonic plates pressing against one another in a more vertical fashion.