Relief for California after major tremors

S O U T H E R N C a l i f o r n i a appeared to have avoided the worst on Saturday after it was rocked by a second powerful earthquake in as many days – a 7.1 magnitude tremor that revived fears of the so-called Big One the region has feared for decades.

No fatalities or serious injuries have been reported from this second quake, the largest in Southern California in more than two decades. It hit on Friday night in a remote and sparsely populated area around 240km northeast of Los Angeles, where it was also felt.

But the Earth’s mighty twitch shook buildings, damaged roads and rattled people still jittery from a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in the same region on Thursday.

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, a remote testing ground for military hardware, wrote on Facebook that due to the quake it was “not mission capable until further notice”.

An official at China Lake had said after Thursday’s temblor that there was “substantial damage” to their facilities, including fires, water leaks and spills of hazardous materials.

Hardest-hit was the town of Trona east of Ridgecrest, where between 20 and 50 buildings were damaged and the Federal E merg e n c y Management Agency had to truck in bottles of water as water lines had been cut, county supervisor Robert Lovingood said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he had requested federal assistance for communities hit by the quake, and on Saturday flew to the area to inspect the damage.

However there were already signs of recovery as both Trona and Ridgecrest saw electricity restored on Saturday and the state highway connecting the towns was opened after “emergency temporary repairs” to earthquake-caused cracks, the CaliforniaDepartment of Transportation said on Twitter.

Fears of the ‘Big One’

The latest quake was 11 times stronger than the 6.4-magnitude “foreshock” the previous day, according to the US Geological Survey.

The two major quakes, along with multiple aftershocks, have revived fears of the “Big One” – a powerful tremor along the San Andreas Fault that could devastate major cities in California.

“This is an ear thquake sequence. These earthquakes are related,” said Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones.

There was a 10 per cent chance of Friday’s quake being followed by another magnitude 7.0 or higher quake this week, she added.