Southwestern Arizona on alert after series of earthquakes

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Earthquakes were felt all over Imperial County, and mainly in the city of Brawley. People I spoke to say they felt one this morning, and even though they're used to the occasional earthquake, this was different.

[00:00:12]19 quakes in the past 24 hours, 281 in the past week.

[00:00:22]And all of a sudden, I I remember hearing a rumbling sound of a very it sounded like it was going to be a a big earthquake, but I didn't expect it to be that big. Thomas Berry lives in Brawley, California. He says it happened quickly. He was walking his dog when the earthquake hit, leaving the city in the dark. We got breaking news. Um huge earthquake.

[00:00:42]Unknown of what uh pointage, but a huge earthquake here in Brawley. Whole power's out. Berry tells me his home was covered with broken glass. He also sent us photos from local grocery stores, showing what happened to the shelves.

[00:01:00]Another local who felt the earthquake tells me she lives on the fourth floor of her apartment complex. And I was in bed, just like on the phone, scrolling, talking, um when I felt that bigger one.

[00:01:11]And uh I remember thinking like this is really big. It also broke pipes, forcing some neighbors to evacuate. There were it was a leak uh water leaks um on each floor. I was able to see that there was some cracking. Imperial County is no stranger to earthquakes.

[00:01:30]Ramon Arrowsmith is a professor of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU. He says the earthquakes are centered under the city of Brawley. And what's going on is the the big faults that uh allow for Western California to move to the northwest due to plate tectonics are the Imperial Fault and the San Andreas Fault.

[00:01:54]Arrowsmith tells me earthquakes in that area can last up to 2 weeks. He also says they're fairly normal, so it doesn't mean a big earthquake can come anytime soon. Reporting in Yuma, Karina Corral for Arizona's family.