Magnitude 3.4 earthquake strikes near Pine Valley

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.4 struck the East County desert canyons today about 16 miles east-northeast of Pine Valley.

Automated seismographs picked up the temblor at 2:55 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Its tentative epicenter was about 30 miles east of Alpine, 50 miles northeast of Tecate, Mexico and about 55 miles east-northeast of downtown San Diego.

Light shaking was felt in Ocotillo, but there were no immediate reports of damage to the USGS.