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U.S. NEWS Friday 5 July 2019

Strongest earthquake in 20 years rattles

Southern California

By JOHN ANTCZAK and temblor, according to the dangerous conditions.
OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ United States Geological Don’t call for questions
Associated Press Survey. “It almost gave me please,” the LAPD said in
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The a heart attack,” said Cora a statement published on
strongest earthquake in 20 Burke, a waitress at Mid- Twitter. There were no re-
years shook a large swath way Cafe in Ridgecrest, of ports of serious damage or
of Southern California and the big jolt. “It’s just a roll- injuries in Los Angeles, the
parts of Nevada on Thurs- ing feeling inside the build- department said.
day, rattling nerves on the ing, inside the cafe and The quake was detect-
July 4th holiday and caus- all of a sudden everything ed by California’s new
ing some injuries and dam- started falling off the shelf, ShakeAlert system and it Seismologist Lucy Jones talks during a news conference at the
age in a town near the glasses, the refrigerator provided 48 seconds of Caltech Seismological Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday,
epicenter, followed by a and everything in the small warning to the seismology July 4, 2019.
swarm of ongoing after- refrigerator fell over.” Vid- lab well before the shak- Associated Press
shocks. eo posted online of a liquor ing arrived at Caltech in Graves said it calculated quake happened as she
The 6.4 magnitude quake store in Ridgecrest showed the Los Angeles suburb of an intensity level for the was getting ready for a
struck at 10:33 a.m. in the the aisles filled with broken Pasadena but it did not Los Angeles area that was July 4th party. “I was just in
Mojave Desert, about 150 wine and liquor bottles, trigger a public warning below the threshold for a the living room getting ev-
miles (240 kilometers) north- knocked down boxes and through an app recently public alert. The limits are erything ready, we start to
east of Los Angeles, near other groceries strewn on made available in Los An- intended to avoid false feel the shaking, so then I
the town of Ridgecrest, the floor. Flames were seen geles County. alarms. look up and then the wine
California. shooting out of one home USGS seismologist Robert Ashleigh Chandler, a heli- bottles start rattling and I
Multiple injuries and two in the community. Graves said the ShakeAlert copter rescue EMT at Fort thought, ‘They’re going to
house fires were reported Lucy Jones, a seismologist system worked properly. Irwin, California, said the fall.’ q
in the town of 28,000. Emer- with the California Institute
gency crews were also of Technology’s seismology
dealing with small vegeta- lab, said the earthquake
tion fires, gas leaks and re- was the strongest since a
ports of cracked roads, 7.1 quake struck in the area
said Kern County Fire Chief on October 16, 1999.
David Witt. “This has been an extreme-
He said 15 patients were ly quiet abnormal time,”
evacuated from the Jones said. “This type of
Ridgecrest Regional Hospi- earthquake is much more
tal as a precaution and out normal ... The long term
of concern for aftershocks. average is probably once
Kern County District Su- every five or 10 years some-
pervisor Mick Gleason told where in Southern Califor-
CNN there were some nia.” Jones said that the
structural issues with the 6.4 quake centered near
hospital and some patients the town of Ridgecrest was
had to be moved from preceded by a magnitude
one ward to another and 4.2 temblor about a half
that others were taken to a hour earlier.
neighboring building. She said vigorous after-
Gleason did not say what shocks were occurring
the structural issues were. and that she wouldn’t be
Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy surprised if a magnitude
Breeden said that utility 5 quake hit but that they
workers were assessing bro- were striking in a remote
ken gas lines and turning area, sparsely populated
off gas where necessary. area. “This is an isolated
The local senior center was enough location that that’s
holding a July 4th event going to greatly reduce
when the quake hit and ev- the damage,” she said.
eryone made it out shaken People from Las Vegas to
up but without injuries, she the Pacific Coast reported
said. feeling a rolling motion and
“Oh, my goodness, there’s took to social media to re-
another one (quake) right port it.
now,” Breeden said on live Local emergency agen-
television as an aftershock cies also took to social me-
struck. dia to ask people to only
President Donald Trump call 911 for emergencies.
said he was fully briefed on “We are very much aware
the earthquake and that it of the significant earth-
“all seems to be very much quake that just occurred in
under control!” Southern California. Please
A series of aftershocks in- DO NOT call 9-1-1 unless
cluded a 4.5 magnitude there are injuries or other