 The Imperial Valley is surrounded by a number of interconnected fault systems and is vulnerable to both moderate and strong earthquakes as well as earthquake swarms . The area was equipped with an array of strong motion seismographs for analyzing the fault mechanisms of nearby earthquakes and seismic characteristics of the sediments in the valley . The earthquake was significant in the scientific community for studies of both fault mechanics and repeat events . Four of the region 's known strike @-@ slip faults and one additional newly discovered normal fault all broke the surface during the earthquake . 
