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.
California Office of Emergency Services said there were “significant” reports of fires, mostly as the result of gas leaks and line breaks in Ridgecrest. There were also water main breaks. Power and communication are both out.
Trona, a small community of about 2,000, had reports of building collapses, power outages and gas leaks. The own was cut off due to a rock slide, residents told the Los Angeles Times.
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Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said there were residents who were “sleeping outside tonight.”
“We’re asking everyone to drive safely, be careful and watch for these people and understand – we are doing the very best we can,” Breeden said. “It is not an impossible task to take care of all of this but it will be a longer task than we thought the other day.”
Highway 178 through the Kern River Canyon was closed due to rock slides.
Nearby San Bernardino County tweeted just before midnight that there were no quake-related fires in the area.
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.
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 above a 5.0 magnitude, 16 above a 4.0 magnitude and over 50 above a 3.0 magnitude.
The probablity of another 6 magnitude is over 50%, Jones said. There is as high as an 11 percent chance there will be another 7 magnitude quake.
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.
