California shaken & stirred

TWO strong earthquakes that pierced years of seismic calm in southern California have revived fears of the “Big One” striking Los Angeles, with officials warning citizens to be prepared for further shocks.

A 7.1-magnitude quake that struck a remote region some 240km northeast of Los Angeles on Friday evening local time was felt throughout the city, prompting Angelenos to evacuate homes, bars, restaurants and movie theatres.

The quake — which followed a 6.4-magnitude tremor the previous day — caused only minor damage in Los Angeles such as scattered power outages.

It struck on a smaller fault line not directly linked to the major San Andreas Fault.

But for many in the city, it served as a powerful reminder of the realities of living on an active tectonic zone.

“Yesterday I was in shock because I realised I didn’t know exactly what to do,” Cristina Alhamad, 29, mother to a one-month-old baby, said.

“I heard my neighbours running, screaming in the halls and I just froze because some said to stay in, others to stay out.”

Ms Alhamad said she had packed some essential items for her baby to place by the door after the first quake, but ut in the moment of Friday’s larger shock she “just took the baby and left”.

Politicians including presi- dential hopeful Senator Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Karen Bass were among those urging Californ- ians to boost preparedness s yesterday.

“This isn’t a drill. Make sure you and your family are ready for the big one,” Ms Bass said d on Twitter.

But prior to the first quake on Thursday, southern California had been in an “earth- quake drought,” with nothing measuring above 6.0 magnitude since early 2010.

Following Friday’s event, Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones warned there was a 10 per cent chance of another magnitude 7.0 or higher quake in the next week.