The U.S. Geological Survey recorded an earthquake late Friday with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 about 11 miles from Ridgecrest in the Mojave desert. The earthquake is just one day after a 6.4 earthquake struck the area, and Friday’s quake was along the same fault lines.
Friday’s quake struck at 8:19 p.m. PT. Kern County fire officials said there were no reports of fatalities. THere are 1,800 people without power.
The quake shook downtown Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Fire Department reported “localized” power outages in the city as well as downed wires. There is no major damage to infastructure identified, the LAFD tweeted.
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The quake was felt as far away as Las Vegas and Mexico, the USGS said.
More than 1,000 aftershocks have been recorded since Thursday’s earthquake.
Thursday’s quake is now known as a “foreshock” when an aftershock is larger than the originally quake. Lucy Jones of California Institute of Technology’s seismology lab said in a press conference Friday that a magnitude 6 aftershock would be “not surprising.”
“This is an earthquake sequence — it will be ongoing,” Jones said.
As of 10:30 p.m. PT, there were two aftershocks at a 5 magnitude, 16 at a 4 magnitude and over 50 at 3 magnitude.
The probablity of another 6 magnitude is over 50%, Jones said. There is a 10 percent chance another magnitude 7 quake could strike.
A tsunami warning is not expected.
This is the strongest earthquake recorded in the area in over 20 years.
This is a breaking story. It will be updated.
