Strongest earthquake in decades hits Southern California, measuring 7.1 magnitude

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-earthquake-california-shake-quake-20190704-story.html

Strongest earthquake in decades hits Southern California, measuring 6.4 magnitude
By Harriet Ryan, Rong-Gong Lin II, Julia Wick, Louis Sahagun, Karen Kaplan and Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio
Jul 04, 2019 | 12:25 PM


A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday, the largest temblor to hit the region in two decades.

The 10:33 a.m. quake was centered in the Searles Valley, a remote area of Kern County about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, and was felt as far away as Long Beach and Las Vegas.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities, though authorities in the city of Ridgecrest were responding to dozens of emergency calls.

The Kern County Fire Department was responding to ?nearly 2 dozen incidents ranging from medical assistance to structure fires in and around the city of Ridgecrest,? according to the department?s Twitter account.

There were scattered reports of problems at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital. Reached by phone, Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said authorities were in the process of assessing the hospital.

"It's a little crazy here right now,? she said before quickly ending the call.

The quake was the largest in Southern California since the 7.1 Hector Mine quake struck the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base in 1999...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://ktla.com/2019/07/05/magnitude-5-0-earthquake-rattles-socal/


Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Follows July 4th Ridgecrest Temblor, Becoming the ?Mainshock? in a Massive Swarm
Posted 4:16 AM, July 5, 2019, by Erika Martin, Rick Chambers and Nerissa Knight, Updated at 03:55AM, July 6, 2019

After a swarm of more than 1,400 earthquakes hit the Searles Valley region over the past two days, a magnitude 7.1 temblor ? the biggest yet ? struck Friday evening.

The quake hit roughly 10 and a half miles from Ridgecrest at about 8:19 p.m., the U.S. Geological Survey reports. After previously downgrading the magnitude to 6.9, seismologists pushed it back up to the preliminary figure of 7.1.

The epicenter was about 7 miles northwest of the 6.4 magnitude Fourth of July foreshock that was previously thought to be what seismologists call the "mainshock," or largest event in a seismic series.

Shaking was felt across Southern California and as far as Mexico and Las Vegas, where an NBA Summer League game was halted when the stadium began rattling. Videos aired by Sacramento station KOVR showed pools sloshing in Elk Grove, just outside the state?s capital city, and in Modesto in the north San Joaquin Valley.

Friday's was 10 times stronger than Thursday's quake, according to Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones.

It was also about 4.7 miles deeper. Preliminary information had listed it shallower.

It?s the most powerful temblor to hit Southern California in at least 20 years, tying the magnitude 7.1 quake that struck the Hector Mine area, nearly 50 miles east-southeast of Barstow, in October 1999. The Northridge earthquake in 1994 was magnitude 6.7.

While Friday's event may be the largest in this week's series, it won't be the last ? and there's still a chance a bigger one will come...