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Two earthquakes just hit Southern California two days apart, one on Thursday morning, July 4^th, which was a 6.4 on the Richer scale, and the other a stronger 7.1 temblor on Friday night.  Both had their epicenters near Ridgecrest, which is a small community of approximately 29,000 persons northeast of Bakersfield and west of Las Vegas.

The Thursday quake hit at 10:33 am.  Although it was centered in the Searles Valley near where Inyo, San Bernardino, and Kern counties meet, it was felt according to some testimonies in Ensenada, Mexicali, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Reno, and Chico.   There was a 5.4 aftershock that came on Friday morning.

The Friday quake came at night.  It struck at 8:20 pm and although it had its epicenter in the same Ridgecrest area, just a little further northwest, it was felt by people in the stands at Dodger stadium in Los Angeles.

Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts, according to the L.A. Times, said he didn’t feel it down on the field, and neither did pitcher Clayton Kershaw; but they quickly figured out what was happening when fans started yelling, leaving their seats and people began to communicate.  Dodgers’ utility man Kike Hernandez was at bat and he later said, according to the L.A. Times, that he didn’t feel it either.

Overall, some felt it and some didn’t all around the southland.

Approximately 3,000 residents were without power in Ridgecrest and the adjacent areas just after the Friday night quake.   It caused some fires and other damage in both Ridgecrest and Trona, which is a town close to Ridgecrest. 

Trona with its approximately 2,000 people suffered collapsed buildings and gas leaks.  Power and communications went out. 

It was reported by the L.A. Times that according to Lucy Jones, a well-known Caltech seismologist, that the Friday night 7.1 quake was about 10 times larger than the July 4^th Thursday morning one at 6.4.  The Friday night quake happened on the same fault line as the Thursday morning quake, but it was a little farther away from Los Angeles.  Its greater magnitude was the reason it was felt in Los Angeles more than the quake the morning of July 4th. 

These two quakes have occurred after a relatively quiet period of several years.  The fault line on which they occurred is not the infamous San Andreas fault, which is over a hundred miles further south.  It is along the San Andreas fault that the “big one” is predicted to occur in the foreseeable future. 

lonce@adjustercom.com, Lonce Lamonte, journalist; copyright Lonce Lamonte and adjustercom