An earthquake this week in Mexico made waves over 1,700 miles away in a cave located in California’s Death Valley, officials said.
The magnitude 7.6 earthquake was reported at 1:05 p.m. local time Monday along Mexico's central Pacific coast, n…
An earthquake this week in Mexico made waves over 1,700 miles away in a cave located in California’s Death Valley, officials said.
The magnitude 7.6 earthquake was reported at 1:05 p.m. local time Monday along Mexico's central Pacific coast, near the boundary of Colima and Michoacan states, according to the U.S. Geologic Survey. At least one person was killed, and buildings were damaged near the quake’s epicenter.
At the time of the earthquake, officials with the National Park Service were conducting research at Death Valley’s Devils Hole in California and "witnessed the effects firsthand." Devils Hole is a water-filled cavern cut into the side of a hill that’s more than 500 feet deep, officials say. It’s also home to the only naturally occurring population of the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish.
"Within five minutes, the normally still water in the pool began slowly moving, and soon built to waves several feet high," Death Valley National Park said in a Facebook post, alongside a video showing what it refers to as a "tsunami in the desert."
National Park Service officials say Devils Hole is an "unusual indicator" of seismic activity around the world, noting how large earthquakes as far away as Japan, Indonesia, and Chile have caused the water to "slosh" in the cavern.
"The highly endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) has thankfully evolved with these types of periodic natural disturbances, and they were fine and swimming (happily?) afterward," Death Valley National Park wrote in the Facebook post. "Keeping with previous observations, staff expect to see an increase in spawning activity over the next few days, hopefully resulting in even more recruits into the population."
