7.2-magnitude quake shakes San Diego region

SAN DIEGO (UNION-TRIBUNE).- A 7.2 earthquake shook Mexico and San Diego County on Sunday afternoon.

The temblor, which struck about 3:40 p.m., was centered 16 miles southwest of Guadalupe Victoria in Baja, Mexico, and about 108 miles east southeast of Tijuana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Residents across San Diego County reported feeling the tremors. The temblor was felt as far east as Arizona.
In El Centro, the Salvation Army reported unspecified injuries and damage to buildings at its center.
Authorities have confirmed that the quake caused at least two water-main breaks in this region. One was reported near Mission Bay High School and the other was at the Nordstrom store in Fashion Valley, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque.
There were no other immediate reports of major damage in the greater San Diego area.
The San Diego International Airport had a minor water leak at Gate 33 in Terminal 2, and the terminal was evacuated for about 10 minutes due to fears of a gas leak. Passengers were allowed to return at 4:17 p.m., after officials determined that no leak had occurred, said Chanelle Hawken, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Airport Authority.
No planes were delayed, she said.
San Diego resident Lorenzo Aiello was waiting for a flight to Phoenix, Ariz. “A lot of people just dropped to the floor. Everybody’s pretty shaken up,” he said, but added that nothing appeared to be damaged and no one was visibly injured.
Karissa Pearce, front desk supervisor at the Hilton San Diego/Harbor Island, said water splashed out of the hotel pool when the earthquake hit.
“It was like 20 people did a cannonball,” she said.
Pearce said the temblors also caused chandeliers at the hotel to swing. Several frightened guests asked if they could be moved to a lower floor.
“One of the bellmen said he could see the ground moving,” Pearce added.
At the Sheraton Hotel and Marina on Harbor Drive, cracks were discovered in the floors and the building was evacuated, Luque said.
Fire department personnel also checked out an apartment building on Kansas Street in North Park where some cracks were found. They determined that the building was safe, but recommended that a structural engineer examine it, Luque said.
At the Lyceum Theater at Horton Plaza, audience members were evacuated for about 10 minutes in the middle of watching “Triple Espresso.”
Overpasses under construction on Interstate 15 — as part of the ongoing widening project — have been checked and seem to be fine. Dispatchers reported receiving many telephone calls from anxious residents wanting to know what was going on.
“We felt it big time,” said Kara Lewis of Linda Vista.
Steve Dolan of Alpine said it seemed like the quake lasted a long time. “It was just shaking like crazy,” he said.
Matthew Drake of Santee said he was upstairs when the house started shaking and his cats dove under the bed. He said he thought the temblor lasted about two minutes.
Linda Wright, who is from San Diego but is living in Crestline at the 5,000 elevation in the San Bernardino Mountains, said the quake “just kept going,” she said.
Anne Krueger, Jeanette Steele and J. Harry Jones contributed to this report