Damage surveys still under way after twin quakes
LOS ANGELES — Rattled residents cleaned up and officials continued to assess damage Monday from two of the biggest earthquakes to shake Southern California in decades as scientists warned that both should serve as a wakeup call to be ready when the long-dreaded “Big One” strikes.
It could be several more days before water service is restored to the desert town of Trona, where officials trucked in portable toilets and showers, said San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert.
Ten residences in Trona were redtagged as uninhabitable and officials expect that number to rise as inspectors complete surveys. Wert said he’s seen homes that shifted 6 feet off their foundations.
Electricity was restored to Trona over the weekend, allowing people to use muchneeded air conditioners as daytime temperatures approached 100 degrees.
Teams will need several more days to finish assessments in nearby Ridgecrest, where the number of damaged buildings will likely be in the dozens, Kern County spokeswoman Megan Person said.
There were 100 people at Ridgecrest’s main shelter as of Sunday afternoon, Person said. Another 43 evacuees were camped out on a lawn outside, afraid to go indoors. Person says officials are bringing in counselors to help residents still on edge as aftershocks rattle the area.
“You can’t feel every single one, but you can feel a lot of them,” she said. “Those poor people have been dealing with shaking ground nonstop since Thursday.”
A dozen small earthquakes, each more than a magnitude 3, rattled the area overnight into Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
They were among about 3,000 aftershocks following the magnitude 6.4 earthquake Thursday and a magnitude 7.1 quake Friday centered near Ridgecrest, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Seismologists said a similarsized quake in a major city such as San Francisco or Los Angeles could collapse bridges, buildings and freeways, as well as spark devastating fires fueled by ruptured gas lines.
“It is a wakeup call for the rest of the state and other parts of the nation, frankly,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a weekend briefing on earthquake preparedness.