Earthquake Hits Pesach Hotels

By COLlive reporter

A powerful earthquake in Mexico shook southern California Sunday afternoon, Erev Shvii Shel Pesach, damaging buildings in border towns and rattling populations as far north as Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Chandeliers were swinging over the heads of hundreds of Jewish guests who spent Pesach at local hotels for well over a minute as the quake rocked states in Mexico and the United States.

The 7.2 quake struck just after at 3:30 p.m. local time, and was centered 16 miles south-southwest of Guadalupe Victoria in Baja California, Mexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Yossi Polter, assistant director of KMR – Kosher Mountain Retreats, said he felt like he was surfboarding at the St. Regis Resort and Spa in Monarch Beach, CA.

The 800 Jews in his program “were frightened, not knowing the extent of the quake,” he told COLlive.com. 50 of them are Lubavitchers from Crown Heights and elsewhere.

One guest, a resident of Los Angeles, suggested that people should not go to the beach for a few days because the effects could last for a while.

“Although our hotel is safe because it’s near the beach, but not directly on it,” he noted.

There are another three Pesach resort groups in the Southern California area. Polter said that he has not heard of any injuries. “Everyone calmed down when they realized that there was no major damage.”

The shaking was particularly acute in San Diego, where the quake set off several alarms and sent the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department out on several calls, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

In Los Angeles, homes slid from side to side for well over a minute, a nauseating and seemingly endless wave that could be felt from the beach to the Hollywood Hills. Twitter was quickly filled with reports from the border to Phoenix to Los Angeles.