Quake Jolts San Diego, Baja--Even the Redskins

Many residents were awakened Monday by an earthquake that shook Southern California and Baja California, but there were no reports of injuries or serious damage, authorities said.

“We felt it. It didn’t feel real strong, and we’ve gotten just a few calls about it,” Pat McNew, a San Diego County sheriff’s dispatcher, said of the quake, which struck at 5:17 a.m.

The California Institute of Technology said the quake was centered in a sparsely populated area about 45 miles east of the Baja California resort town of Ensenada.

The quake measured 5.3 on the Richter scale, Caltech spokesman Bob Finn said. The U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., said it measured the quake at 5.0.

Among the people jolted by the quake were members of the Washington Redskins, who arrived in San Diego on Sunday night to begin final preparations for their Super Bowl meeting with the Denver Broncos next Sunday.

A club spokesman said the players took the rattling in stride, although the shaker occupied a good deal of breakfast conversation. The Broncos avoided the quake, with a scheduled Monday afternoon arrival in San Diego.

In Ensenada, on the Pacific coast about 50 miles south of the U.S. border, the quake awakened guests in the El Cortez Hotel.

“It was really light. Some guests called down to the desk, but it was really peaceful,” said Jose Luis Herrera, a desk clerk. There wasn’t any damage at the three-story hotel, he said.

“We felt nothing here,” said Luis Reymundo Siordia, an ambulance driver on duty at the Red Cross in Ensenada. “Everything is very quiet.”

There were no immediate reports of damage in Ojos Negros, a town to the east, Siordia said, adding that there are no telephones in Ojos Negros.

The Office of Emergency Services had reports from people who felt the quake in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties, Davis said. It was felt at least as far north as San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, 125 miles north of the border.

The lone report of damage in San Diego County was at the Escondido residence of a woman who called a San Diego radio station to say the quake had shattered a window.