Southern California rattled by strongest quake in 20 years

LOS ANGELES — A strong earthquake rattled a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on Thursday, rattling nerves on the July Fourth holiday and causing some damage in a town near the epicenter amid a swarm of ongoing aftershocks.

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. PDT in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest. It is the strongest quake to hit the region in 20 years.

Peggy Breeden, the mayor of Ridgecrest, a town of 28,000 people, said firefighters were working to put out five fires, at least one of them at a home, but added that she didn’t know if any injuries had been reported.

Utility workers were assessing broken gas lines and turning off gas where necessary, Breeden told CNN.

“Oh, my goodness, there’s another one (quake) right now,” Breeden said on live television as an aftershock struck.

A series of aftershocks included a 4.5 magnitude temblor, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Video posted online of a liquor store in Ridgecrest showed the aisle floors strewn with broken wine and liquor bottles, knocked down boxes and other groceries. Flames were seen shooting out of one home in the community.

Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology’s seismology lab, said the earthquake was the strongest since a 7.1 quake struck in the area on Oct. 16, 1999.

People from Las Vegas to the Pacific Coast reported feeling a rolling motion and took to social media to report it.