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'I thought I was just dizzy': Residents react as 4.8-magnitude earthquake rattles San Diego

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck in Imperial County near the California-Mexico border while the epicenter was around 100 miles east of San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Residents in San Diego were left awake by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake that rattled the city and its surrounding areas just before midnight, the Daily Mail reported. 

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck Imperial County near the California-Mexico border while the epicenter was around 100 miles east of San Diego, the outlet reported. 

A map provided by USGS showed that the earthquake affected a huge area of Southern California through to Mexico's Baja California region. However, there were no immediate reports of any injuries or major damages. 

Locals reacts to San Diego earthquake online 

Several local residents took to social media to report the earthquake in San Diego. 

"I live by San Ysidro and felt my couch move, I thought I was just dizzy!" one resident wrote. 

"Felt it in mission valley. My bed shook. It woke me up," another mentioned. 

"Woke my wife up in Carmel valley and she naturally is freaking out. Didn’t feel it downstairs," a third reported. 

One said, "I felt it in Carmel Valley," while another noted, "I feel it my apartment it's level 6 it's all shakes." 

One wrote, "In bed. Felt bed shake left to right. Live in North Park" before another mentioned, "Just felt a small #earthquake in northern San Diego."

Some residents also poked fun at the situation and shared some hilarious comments on X (formerly Twitter). 

"I like to check Twitter to make sure it was an actual earthquake and not the glass of wine #sandiego," one posted. 

"I think I jinxed San Diego. I had a candle sitting on the banister landing and I said, let me move this in case we have an earthquake or summin' and then we had an earthquake ten minutes later, I swear," another added. 

"it’s not an earthquake if people from san diego don’t tweet about it," a third local commented. 

California residents participate in yearly earthquake readiness program

As per the Daily Mail, millions of people in California take part in the ShakeOut drill, a statewide readiness program, every year. 

The program is reportedly coordinated by the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California.

It focuses on the "drop, cover, and hold on" rule for basic personal safety during earthquakes but also includes measures like passenger trains to slow down for several minutes.

"We really do recommend that people make themselves a smaller target from those things that cause injuries," said Mark Benthien, the SCEC communications director and lead ShakeOut organizer. 

Benthien also compared the current situation of the drill, which originated in California in 2008, to 15 years ago and said, "Many, many more people are getting prepared, practicing earthquake safety each year because of ShakeOut."

The first ShakeOut drill event came after the scenario of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the southern section of California's mighty San Andreas Fault.