Southern California shaken by magnitude 6.4 earthquake



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Southern California was hit Thursday by its worst earthquake in two decades.

The epicenter of the magnitude 6.4 quake was located near the town of Ridgecrest, located about 240 km northeast of Los Angeles.

Tremors continued to be felt on Friday as emergency teams were fighting fires and providing medical badistance to people.

The earthquake was felt from Las Vegas, Nevada to Los Angeles on the Pacific coast of California.

He struck at 10:33 local time (18: 33GMT) on the US Independence Day holiday on July 4th.

Friday morning at 4:15, a quake of 5.4 hit. Officials from the Los Angeles Fire Department said there was no immediate report of further damage.

Significant damage has been caused to Ridgecrest, which lies southwest of the epicenter, said the BBC's local geophysical professor John Rundle.

He added that it was a chance that the quake occurred away from the major population centers.

The roads were cracked and broken and power lines fell to the ground after the earthquake, which also broke the glbad and cracked the walls of some houses in the area.

A fire burned houses in the city of Ridgecrest

The Ridgecrest Regional Hospital has been evacuated, the Kern County Fire Department said. The service responded to nearly two dozen incidents ranging from medical badistance for minor injuries to fires.

The earthquake also struck near Lake China – the US Navy bomb test facility, where weapons and planes are put to the test. An installation manager told the AFP news agency that there was "substantial damage", including fires, water leaks and spills of hazardous materials.

Patients were evacuated from Ridgecrest Regional Hospital

Brad Alexander, a spokesman for the California Governor's Emergency Services Office, said on Thursday that fire trucks and search and rescue teams would help in the Ridgecrest area. where he thought that a number of buildings were on fire.

"It may not be over yet, there may be more earthquakes in the area and anyone listening in this area should be ready to drop, cover and hold", a- he warned.

A man cleans a supermarket damaged by the earthquake

California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared an emergency for the affected areas as fears of aftershocks could escalate.

During interviews, he called on California residents to have a plan in case of additional earthquakes.

Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said some people had been hit by falling objects and gas pipes had been broken.

"We are used to earthquakes, but not to that importance," she said.

The Los Angeles early warning system has not sent early warning to many residents in the area, reports the LA Times, as the forecasts did not exceed the county's gravity threshold. Los Angeles. In the end, the tremor was worse than expected for some people.

Stephen Sykes, who lives in Ridgecrest, was in the shower when his house began to shake.

"The whole house shook violently and we both ran into the street, which lasted about 10 to 15 seconds, we were really scared," he told the BBC.

"Right now, we're getting ready in case there's another one, we're moving items to the ground and cutting off the gas supply, we're probably going to sleep outside tonight," he added.

President Donald Trump tweeted that the situation was under control.

Lucy Jones, a seismologist from the US Geological Survey, told reporters that the epicenter was in a relatively uninhabited area.

She said that there would probably be a number of aftershocks, some powerful ones.

A man tweeted images from inside a supermarket in Ridgecrest, which has about 28,000 residents, showing the floor of the alley covered with fallen objects.

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