The biggest earthquake in nearly 20 years in Southern California led one town on Thursday to declare the state of emergency and shook people from Las Vegas in the county of Orange.
The quake was 6.4 meters south of the Mojave Desert and was located around 150 miles to the south of Los Angeles, near Ridgecrest. According to USGS seismologist Robert Graves, at least 159 aftershocks of 2.5 magnitudes or more were registered following the earthquake. He stated that it is greater than ordinary, but not unparalleled. Magnitude 4.6 was the biggest.
The seismologist Lucy Jones called this the “robust” series and said that in the next week there will be a 50% chance of another major tremor.
Jones says that in the next couple of days there will be a 1 in 20 possibilities of the larger earthquake. Jones said the earthquake called Searles Valley Quake was preceded by a 4.2 magnitude foreshock. “It’s certain that this region is going to shake a lot today and that some of those aftershocks may exceed magnitude 5.”
