Panicked diners rush from a restaurant as a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Southern California
The quake, which initially was reported as magnitude 7.1, would be the largest temblor in the region in 20 years; Jeff Paul reports from Ridgecrest, California.
Communities in Southern California were bracing for hundreds of aftershocks Saturday after the region was rattled by two of the largest earthquakes felt there in two decades, resulting in multiple fires, punctured water and gas lines and infrastructure damage.
Seismologists warned of large aftershocks following Friday's 7.1-magnitude tremor, which happened just after 8 p.m. local time. The quake was centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, the site where a 6.4-magnitude tremor hit a day earlier.
The aftershocks are expected to last days, if not weeks.
In the interim, Gov. Gavin Newsom has requested federal aid, he said at a news conference on Saturday. He also toured the Ridgecraft area with local officials to get a firsthand look at the damage wrought.
"There's no doubt in my mind after talking with the president, he's committed to the long haul, the long run, to help support the rebuilding efforts," Newsom said at the news conference after speaking with President Trump by phone.
"We don't agree on everything," Newsom said, "but one area where there's no politics, where we've worked extraordinarily well together is on emergency response, recovery and increasing emergency preparedness, and this is consistent with the relationship."
The rumbling on Friday was felt as far away as Las Vegas and Mexico. No fatalities were reported in either quake, police said, but the California National Guard was sending 200 troops, along with logistical support and aircraft, to affected areas.
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Katherine Johnson-Coates stands outside of a neighbor's burned down mobile home in the aftermath of an earthquake in Ridgecrest, Calif. Crews in Southern California assessed damage to cracked and burned buildings, broken roads, leaking water and gas lines and other infrastructure Saturday after the largest earthquake the region has seen in nearly 20 years jolted an area from Sacramento to Las Vegas to Mexico. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Ridgecrest, a city of about 28,000 people sandwiched between Southern California and Las Vegas, experienced two fires that were quickly extinguished.
April Hamlin, a Ridgecrest resident, said she thought Friday's quake was another aftershock. She was wrong.
“But it just kept on intensifying,” she said. “The TV went over, hanging by the cord. We heard it break. We heard glass breakage in the other rooms, but all we could do was stay where we were until it stopped.”
The second quake resulted in the postponement of several NBA Summer League games being played in Las Vegas. Play was stopped Friday night during the fourth quarter of a game between the New York Knicks and the New Orleans Pelicans at the Thomas & Mack Center, where the scoreboard swayed and the structure shook.
League play was expected to resume Saturday.
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In Los Angeles, about 150 miles southwest of Ridgecrest, the quake rattled Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning of the team's game against the San Diego Padres. There were no reports of serious damage in and around Los Angeles.
Scientists said the initial quake on Independence Day and its small aftershocks were actually foreshocks to Fridays larger tremor, which is the most powerful since a 7.1 quake shook the Mojave Desert in 1999.
This still image taken from video shows bottles and debris on the floor of a liquor store as a result from the earthquake in Ridgecrest, Calif. The quake struck at 8:19 p.m. Friday and was centered 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Ridgecrest, the same area of the Mojave Desert where a 6.4-magnitude temblor hit just a day earlier. (AP Photo/APTN)
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Around 500 small aftershocks were recorded as of Saturday morning, according to the United State Geological Survey.
Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology, said the chances of another 7.0 quake hitting the region within the week was one in 20.
The chance of a 5.0 is "approaching certainty," she said.
In addition to fires and structural damage, the city suffered water-main breaks and power and communications outages. Authorities have reported thefts from some businesses, Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said.
She said some "bad people" tried stealing items from local businesses after the quake, and Police Chief Jed McLaughlin said "a very expensive piece of equipment [was] stolen" from one business. A 30-mile stretch of highway on State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, a nearby city of about 2,000, was also closed off because of rock slides and road cracking.
Ron Mikulaco, left, and his nephew, Brad Fernandez, examine a crack caused by an earthquake on highway 178 outside Ridgecrest, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Antoun Abdullatif, 59, said much of his inventory from his liquor stores and other businesses in Ridgecrest and Trona was destroyed.
"I would say 70 percent of my inventory is on the floor, broken," he said Saturday morning in Ridgecrest. "Every time you sweep and you put stuff in the dustbin, you're putting $200 in the trash."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
