242
Los Angeles (CNN) An earthquake with an early measure of magnitude 6.4 hit Southern California — about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles — on Thursday morning, according to the US Geological Survey.
Reports of scattered damage, including rock slides and fires, rolled in by midday.
At least four large aftershocks have been recorded, measuring 4.7, 3.5, 3.8 and 4.2 magnitude, officials said.
The earthquake was felt in central Los Angeles as a long, rolling quake, making buildings rock back and forth for at least several seconds.
The quake was centered near Ridgecrest, a community west of the Mojave Desert.
Diane Ruggiero, general manager of the Hampton Inn and Suites Ridgecrest in Ridgecrest, told CNN’s Paul Vercammen that the hotel has significant damage.
“The chandeliers are still swinging,” she said five minutes after the quake hit at 10:33 PT. “The floor rippled.”
Los Angeles International Airport said no damage was reported on runways. “Operations remain normal,” it tweeted.
“We have no reports of damage to any FAA facilities or operational effects from the quake at this time,” FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Some damage reported
Trona, an unincorporated community, “sustained varying degrees of damage” but no injuries have been reported, according to San Bernadino County Fire’s verified Twitter account.
The department reported “minor cracks (in buildings); broken water mains; power lines down; rock slides on certain roads” in northwestern communities in the county.
Just north of Los Angeles, Kern County Fire is responding to more than 20 incidents relating to the earthquake and aftershocks including fires and medical emergencies, according to a tweet on its verified account.
Firefighters battle a house fire in Ridgecrest, California.
Highway 178 has a 4-inch crack, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Jeremy Kern. All highways in San Bernardino County remain open. The area’s high tension power lines are all intact.
U.S. Geological Survey Lucy Jones seismologist told reporters, “The earthquake was near China Lake and Ridgecrest. It’s is sparsely inhabited area, so the number of people who would have received damage is much lower.”
She said there is a 1 in 20 chance that a bigger earthquake will hit within the next few days. “It’s certain that this area is going to be shaking a lot today and some of those aftershocks will probably exceed magnitude 5.”
Jones said the quake was preceded by magnitude 4.2 temblor about 30 minutes before, which she called a foreshock.
Source: CNN
