California earthquake: 7.1 quake shakes Southern California 1 day after magnitude 6.4

A powerful 7.1 earthquake shook Southern California one day after a magnitude 6.4.

The quake, centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest area, was originally listed as a 7.1, was downgraded shortly after and then upgraded back to a 7.1.

Kern County fire officials reported “multiple injuries and multiple fires” without providing details. San Bernardino County firefighters reported cracked buildings and a minor injury.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones said the 6.4 is now a foreshock, and another 6.0 quake “would not be surprising.” The new, larger quake was on the same fault and part of the same sequence.

So the M6.4 was a foreshock. This was a M7.1 on the same fault as has been producing the Searles Valley sequence. This is part of the same sequence –

— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) July 6, 2019

People reported feeling the earthquake in areas as far as San Francisco and Las Vegas. The quake was felt downtown as a rolling motion that seemed to last at least a half-minute.

The U.S. Geological Survey says it also was felt in Mexico.

“This happened at the end of the zone that moved previously,” Jones said.

It has already been followed by several aftershocks, some 15 miles to the northwest, Jones said. She said the fault is likely to be 25 to 30 miles long.

“The fault is growing,” Jones said. “We ruptured a piece in the first earthquake [the 6.4 on Thursday], we ruptured a piece in the 5.4 [the aftershock yesterday], and we’ve ruptured more now.”

The epicenter of Friday’s quake seemed to be deeper than Thursday’s large temblor – tonight’s intensity, which scientists use to measure the amount shaking, was absolutely greater tonight, Jones said.

When Thursday’s quake hit, scientists had warned that it could lead to an even larger quake. Ridgecrest has been rattled by more than 17 magnitude 4 quakes and at least 1,200 aftershocks since Thursday. A magnitude 5.4 aftershock occurred earlier this morning— strong enough to awaken some residents of Los Angeles about 125 miles away.

Seismologists said Friday evening’s temblor appeared to to be part of the same sequence. Thursday’s large earthquake could’ve actually been the foreshock to today’s magnitude 6.9, said Lucy Jones.

Friday’s quake was larger in magnitude than the destructive 1994 Northridge quake, which measured 6.7 magnitude. But that temblor occurred in an urban area, while this week’s huge quakes occurred 100 miles from L.A. in a mostly rural desert area.