Californians Received Text Alert to ‘Drop, Cover, Hold on’ Seconds Before Earthquake

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California just outside San Diego on Monday, and people received text alerts on their phones mere seconds before the quake occurred.

“Parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties were jolted Monday morning by a strong earthquake near San Diego,” reported KTLA.

“The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 and was near the mountain town of Julian, east of San Diego, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Multiple aftershocks in the 2 and 3 magnitude range have been reported,” it added.

People from San Diego to Los Angeles received an alert about the quake on their phones from the “Shake Alert” system, which, according to the Guardian, was “designed to warn those who could be affected and give them essential seconds to prepare before shaking starts.”

Social media lit up with hot takes about receiving the alerts just seconds before a quake hit.

Fortunately, the earthquake does not appear to have caused lasting or permanent damage and occurred in a fairly remote area between San Diego and Escondido.

“The most intense shaking was considered somewhere between moderate to strong on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale — enough to break dishes and overturn unstable objects, and possibly to overturn heavy furniture. Shaking was considered ‘light’ in downtown San Diego and ‘weak’ in downtown L.A.,” reported the Los Angeles Times.

“The shaking in Julian was strong enough to topple bottles at a liquor store, according to a video shared with KGTV-TV. Elsewhere in the community, wine glasses fell and shattered at a winery, and at a home in nearby Santa Ysabel, antique pottery fell from the shelves, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported,” it added.

Elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park were seen forming a circle around their young when the ground started shaking.

Beatriz Scano, a server at Soups & Such Cafe in Julian, said she immediately received the emergency alert when the quake hit and rushed to protect herself.

“We could hear the phones going off while the earthquake was going,” Scano said. “It was pretty scary. It shook everything. Up here in Julian we have some every once in a while, but never that strong.”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.