Southern California earthquake hits media

A 7.1 – magnitude earthquake shook southern California on Friday night, just one day after the region experienced its biggest shock in 20 years.

According to the US Geological Survey, the Friday earthquake occurred around 8:20 pm. local hour. It was centered in the Mojave Desert, about 18 km from the city of Ridgecrest, where a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck as Californians celebrated on July 4th.

"The earthquake lasted for some time," said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California governor's emergency services office, about Friday's earthquake. "This was widely felt in almost all of Southern California and even as far north as Sacramento.The intensity of the jolts was very important."

The earthquake destroyed food from supermarket shelves, pushed mobile homes from their foundations and threw water violently into the backyard pools. The races at Disneyland stopped, while the game was also stopped at a basketball game of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Some residents of Ridgecrest spent the night outside, fearing to sleep inside if another earthquake occurred.

In Los Angeles, news presenters Juan Fernandez and Sara Donchey from the local CBS station broadcast live Friday's earthquake.

"We're having a lot of shake," said Donchey, visibly worried, as she and her colleague looked up at the dim lighting in the studio.

"I think we have to get under the desk."

After the earthquake on Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom declared the state of emergency in San Bernardino County, damaging homes and infrastructure. The governor has also formally requested the help of the federal government.

Ghilarducci said Ridgecrest and the city of Trona both reported fires due to gas leaks, damaged roads and thousands of people without electricity. He stated that "a number of injuries had been reported" but could not yet give an accurate figure.

"We know that at dawn we can better assess the total amount of damage," he told reporters Saturday at an information meeting.

Friday's earthquake was followed by more than a dozen small aftershocks that continued to move residents.

"It was bad," said Jeremiah Jones, a Ridgecrest resident, at the Los Angeles Times. "Man, it has not stopped yet."

"All the expensive items were safe, but everything in the cabinets, the refrigerator, the drawers, the cupboards, everything was thrown everywhere," he said. "I have a lot to do right now."

Leena Panchal, hotel manager at Ridgecrest, told the New York Times that people were running outside when the quake struck, because of fears of not being inside. .

"It was so bad," she said. "I'm scared, I have two children and nobody takes care of us."

Naval Air Station Navy Lake, a weapons testing facility located outside Ridgecrest, said on its Facebook page that it had been damaged: "The NAWS China Lake has no Is not able to carry out the mission until further notice, however, security protocols remain in effect. "

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter that there were no reports of serious damage to his city. The mayor said that Los Angeles would send a search and rescue task force to Kern County, closer to the epicenter of the earthquake.

Seismologists have warned that there could be other earthquakes to hit the area.

"Like any earthquake, the M7.1 of today has one in 20 followed by something even bigger," said Dr. Lucy Jones at Twitter. "Smaller tremors – the M5s are likely and an M6 is quite possible.