LOS ANGELES: Southern California was rocked by its largest earthquake in two decades on Thursday (Jul 4), a 6.4-magnitude temblor. The earthquake has caused “substantial damage” at a military facility with just minor injuries in the sparsely populated area.
The shallow quake, followed by dozens of aftershocks, struck in the Mojave Desert 10 km from the small city of Ridgecrest at 10.33 am (1.33 am on Friday, Singapore time). It was felt 257 km away in Los Angeles and even as far afield as Las Vegas in the neighboring state of Nevada, as the United States celebrated its Jul 4 Independence Day holiday.
Although the quake in the most populous US state of California revived fears of the “Big One” – a powerful tremor along the San Andreas Fault that could devastate major cities in Southern California – President Trump was quick to reassure that this wasn’t it. “All seems to be very much under control!” he tweeted two hours after the quake in the Searles Valley of San Bernardino County.
The area “will continue having a lot of aftershocks,” some maybe as strong as magnitude five, California Institute of Technology seismologist Lucy Jones told a press conference. The earthquake was the largest in Southern California since 1999 when a 7.1-magnitude quake struck the Twenty-nine Palms Marine Corps base, according to The Los Angeles Times. (Agencies)
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