On Thursday, a continuing 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern in a remote area of Southern California in the middle of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. As per to the United States Geological Survey, this is considered to be the most powerful quake to shake that region in two decades.
Paul Caruso who is a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey said in a statement regarding the quake that, the earthquake hit an isolated area in the Mojave Desert which is around a hundred miles north of Los Angeles as well as 50 miles east of Bakersfield.
Mr. Caruso also said by emphasizing that the quake would have been far more worse than it appears right now if it had been closer to Los Angeles. He said, “It’s been widely felt, but we don’t expect any significant damage,”
“An earthquake that strong that occurred near a city would cause major destruction and probably a lot of casualties,” he added.
This earthquake not only caused dozens of aftershocks but also about two dozen fire as well as medical incidents. The evacuation of various different apartment buildings was also gone underway.
As per to the initial reports, it doesn’t seem to be like that someone was seriously injured in the temblor, the authorities also told the reporters at a news conference.
The Kern County fire chief, David Witt, said that the most emergency calls were coming from Ridgecrest, a small desert city of around 30,000 inhabitants that was nearby to the epicenter. There was also no case of serious injuries, but there were still some houses that got on fire, power lines were downed and some gas leaks reports were reported.
Chief Witt also said in a statement, “We have more calls than we have people,”
He further added, “However, within two hours, we’ll have a lot of people to help.”
Data from the U.S.G.S. disclosed a group of aftershocks rattled the similar region after the earthquake. A 4.0-magnitude quake headed the big shake.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office also in one of their statement said that the Ridgecrest hospital and various other apartment buildings had been evacuated as well as temporary shelters have been opened at two locations, comprising a Walmart in Ridgecrest. But as per to the Alan Jones who is an employee with the Parks and Recreation Department said that only a handful of people had arrived as of mid-afternoon.
Mr. Jones also said that the earthquake was the most severe he had ever felt by far. He said, “It was definitely lifting up my house and lifting me — and I’m a big guy. It moved me around like a rag doll.” He then further added his statement by saying that many of the items in his home flew off shelves, but the house itself did not seem to have been damaged.
President Trump also with the medium of his twitter account said Thursday afternoon that he had been briefed on the earthquake. “Been fully briefed on earthquake in Southern California. All seems to be very much under control!” He tweeted.
