California preparing for more aftershocks
RIDGECREST, Calif. — Two major earthquakes that hit Southern California last week should be a warning to people nationwide to prepare for natural disasters, the state’s governor said as officials expressed relief that the damage wasn’t worse.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday that governments must strengthen alert systems and building codes and that residents should ensure they know how to protect themselves during an earthquake.
“It is a wake-up call for the rest of the state and other parts of the nation, frankly,” Newsom said at a news conference on the state’s efforts to help the region hit by earthquakes Thursday and Friday.
Friday night’s earthquake was the largest in Southern California in nearly 20 years. Officials have voiced concerns about the possibility of major aftershocks in the days and even months to come, though the chances have dwindled.
No fatalities or major injuries were reported after the magnitude 7.1 quake, which jolted an area from Sacramento to Mexico and prompted the evacuation of the Navy’s largest single landholding, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the Mojave Desert.
The quake was centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, the same remote area of the desert where a magnitude 6.4 temblor hit Thursday. It left behind cracked and burned buildings, broken roads, obstructed railroad tracks and leaking water and gas lines.
By Sunday morning, all roads serving the town of 28,000 people were safe to drive again, water and power had been restored, and bus service would resume Monday, Ridgecrest Police Chief Jed McLaughlin said. Homes were being inspected for damage, he said.
Residents of the nearby town of Trona, southwest of Death Valley, reported electricity had been restored but water and gas service was still out at many homes. People in the town of about 2,000 people lined up for free water being handed out by National Guard soldiers at Trona High School.
“I just picked up a couple cases for me and my dog,” said Jeb Haleman, adding his home of 40 years otherwise escaped unscathed.
Authorities warned people to be ready for aftershocks and other earthquakes, adding they may not be so lucky next time. The U.S. Geological Survey, however, predicted Sunday just a 1% chance of another magnitude 7 or higher earthquake in the next week, and a rising possibility of no magnitude 6 quakes.
“Any time that we can go through a 7-point earthquake and we do not report a fatality, a major injury, do not suffer structure damage that was significant, I want to say that that was a blessing and a miracle,” Kern County Fire Department spokesman Andrew Freeborn told reporters Sunday.