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Los Angeles shakes as Southern California hit by strongest earthquake in 20 years

The 4 July earthquake has sparked fires in some areas but there are no reports of mass injuries or any deaths.

California Earthquake Lucy Jones talks during a news conference at the Caltech Seismological Laboratory. John Antczak / PA Images John Antczak / PA Images / PA Images

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WAS rocked by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake this morning, the US Geological Survey said, with authorities warning that the temblor, the largest in two decades, might not be the day’s last.

The shallow quake struck in the vast desert region of the Searles Valley in San Bernardino County just 10 km from the town of Ridgecrest at 10.33 am (6.33 pm Irish time), but was felt 250km away in Los Angeles and even as far as Las Vegas in the neighboring state of Nevada.

Local authorities emphasised that the end of the earthquake did not mean residents were yet in the clear, however President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that: “All seems to be very much under control!”

Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones told a press conference that residents “will continue having a lot of aftershocks,” adding that dozens had already occurred and that some may be as strong as magnitude five.

Emergency responders did not immediately report mass injuries or any deaths, but USGS seismologist Rob Graves said that “this earthquake is large enough that the shaking could have caused damage.”

The quake was the largest in Southern California since 1999 when the 7.1-magnitude Hector Mine quake struck the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The fire department in Kern County, which encompasses Ridgecrest, reported it was “working nearly two dozens incidents ranging from medical assistance to structure fires in and around the city” and that evacuations were underway at the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department meanwhile said that “buildings and roads have sustained varying degrees of damage.”

This included “buildings with minor cracks; broken water mains; power lines down; rock slides on certain roads,” but no injuries or fires.

The quake struck at a depth of 8.7 km in the vast desert region, lasting multiple seconds.

Its epicenter was located in or on the edge of the US Navy’s sprawling desert bomb testing range known as China Lake.

The Naval Air Weapons Station covers 1.1 million acres and strictly controls the airspace above it. Inside, the Navy develops and tests missiles, bombs, artillery shells and other war ordnance, and the aircraft used to deliver it.

California Earthquake Firefighter works to extinguish a fire in Ridgecrest, California. AP AP

An official at China Lake said there was “substantial damage” to their facilities, including fires, water leaks and spills of hazardous materials.

Los Angeles International Airport said its runways were unharmed with operations continuing as normal.

The city’s police, meanwhile, reported on Twitter that they had not “received any reports of damage or calls for service.”

‘Even bigger earthquake’

While California is the most populous state in the US, the quake was located in a sparsely populated portion of the Mojave Desert.

Jones said there is a small possibility this quake is the prelude for a larger tremor.

“There is about a one-in-20 chance that this location will be having an even bigger earthquake within the next few days, that we have not yet seen the biggest earthquake of the sequence,” she said.

© – AFP 2019

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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 4th 2019, 10:49 PM

    I’d clean up isle 1 with a straw

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    Mute Chewey Bacca
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    Jul 5th 2019, 12:01 AM

    Note the volcano eruption yesterday in Italy and la earthquake today , continental plates moving around.

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    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 5th 2019, 12:12 AM

    @Chewey Bacca: they’re plates, they tend to move

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Jul 5th 2019, 12:47 AM

    @Chewey Bacca: Nothing unusual. On average about 20 volcanoes are active at any given time, and there are hundreds of earthquakes every day (thousands if you include all the very minor ones). If you get a day without earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, now THAT would be news.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jul 5th 2019, 1:42 AM

    @Chewey Bacca: Bit of a fail there with your dot joining. Try reading a bit more than the journal

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    Mute Peter Cavey
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    Jul 4th 2019, 10:59 PM

    My friend was in an earthquake when in Turkey a few years ago.. he said it was the scariest thing ever. He described it like trying to walk on a trampoline… No balance.

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    Mute Malcolm Smith
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    Jul 4th 2019, 10:53 PM

    I wonder who Trump will blame for this!

    22
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    Mute Nathan Mawhinney
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:01 PM

    @Malcolm Smith: journal lads are mad for the trump fellah, hows he even related? Hahaha

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    Mute Candace
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:26 PM

    @Malcolm Smith:
    Trump did it.

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    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:57 PM

    @Malcolm Smith: to be fair they’ve been expecting this since 2000 and it’s not a major one. Climate change doesn’t cause earthquakes

    11
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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jul 5th 2019, 1:43 AM

    @Candace: Making America Shake Again

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    Mute Candace
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    Jul 5th 2019, 2:46 PM

    @Paul Furey:
    Lol

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    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:00 AM

    @Candace: he must have fallen out of his golden bed

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    Mute Insider at RTE
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:42 PM

    I was in LA when it struck (God’s truth) in the car stopped at traffic lights. Car rocked a bit- thought it was wind! Nothing to see here really!

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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Jul 5th 2019, 12:33 AM

    @Insider at RTE: That narrows you down ;-P

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    Mute M
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    Jul 5th 2019, 6:11 AM

    @Insider at RTE: wind? Lol

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    Mute willow moon
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:17 PM

    Scary stuff. I survived a 7.2 . Needed loads whiskey after. Best party I have ever been to. Beware of aftershocks. Be safe

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    Mute Ashling Visser Bishop
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:31 PM

    @willow moon: that AfterShock has knocked me off my feet too

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    Mute Ashling Visser Bishop
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:32 PM

    @willow moon: That AfterShock knocked me off my feet too….

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    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 5th 2019, 12:12 AM

    @Ashling Visser Bishop: you can say that again

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    Mute Martina Kealy
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    Jul 5th 2019, 7:16 AM

    Seriously. A catastrophic earthquake is on the way. They don’t know exactly when. The pressure building up on the San Andreas fault makes it geologically inevitable.

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    Mute ThatLJD
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:05 PM

    That’s what God does when you call it a liquer store!!! We all know it’s an offie!!! Wonder what pet shop next door looks like! #climatechange #science #godsplan

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    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 4th 2019, 11:58 PM

    @ThatLJD: liqour in the front, poker in the rear

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    Mute G
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    Jul 4th 2019, 10:46 PM

    Class

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    Mute Niall
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    Jul 5th 2019, 5:45 AM

    New bomb development?

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:25 AM

    As it slips into the Pacific?

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    Mute kushal kumar
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    Jul 5th 2019, 12:25 PM

    News reports on 4 July , 2019 said that earthquake of 6.5 magnitude hit northwest of Canada’s Vancouver Island. No reports of tsunami warning or any damage – casuality were immediately available. Separately , California was also jolted by quake of 6.4 magnitude, shaking the areas there. In this context , it is apt to mention here this Vedic astrology writer’s predictive alerts in article – “ World trends in April to August 2019” – brought to public domain widely in March and subsequently on 5 April , 2019. The alert had said that during a period of four months and a half from mid- April to August , particularly in June and around , in the present year 2019 , Canada and other vulnerable countries like the US may also take more care and appropriate strategy against likely earthquake. It seems the alert has been meaningful.
    Note : – This writer’s other significant time-tested predictive work in relation to the U.S. so far can be found at wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/4897/ and wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/5060/. Separately and in addition , this writer has alerted already on 22 June , 2019 that more care and appropriate strategy may be called for during a period of fortnight from 25 September to 9 October , particularly on 28 -29 September , in the present year 2019 against likely War or WW3 -like scenario , massive earthquakes , storms-tornadoes-cyclones , floods, landslide , road-rail-air safety concerns , economic and financial major worrisome concerns , health woes related to stomach-head-brain , human malice at its height in operation and the like. Vulnerability of a country or region appears to be main determining factor. Having said that , it may be made clear that human more care and appropriate strategy has weight over planetary trend generating impacts.

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:27 AM

    @kushal kumar: Or Jesus and God is just sick of the way they treat each other and him?

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