Hundreds of Aftershocks Felt from Friday Palm Springs Earthquake

Hundreds of aftershocks have followed the magnitude 5.2 earthquake that shook the Palm Springs area on Friday.

Aftershocks are common after significant quakes, and Friday's temblor – which was felt from San Diego to Los Angeles and beyond – produced a few larger than 3.0. Most were much smaller.

The quake occurred in a sparsely populated area near Borrego Springs in San Diego County but the 1:04 a.m. quake was felt across a wide area.

"It's the biggest one for a while," said Egill Hauksson, a research professor of geophysics at Pasadena's California Institute of Technology.

Friday's temblor occurred on the San Jacinto fault, the most active in the region, Hauksson said. As of Saturday, the U.S. Geological Service listed more than 200 aftershocks in the Borrego Springs area, and there were others nearby.

The last notable quake in Southern California was in 2014, when a 5.1 magnitude quake hit La Habra. It occurred on a different fault.