The mystery of the Ridgecrest earthquake: Why so little destruction caused by huge earthquakes?

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake began at an epicenter 15 km northeast of Ridgecrest's center. But it occurred on a fault that led to the worst waves of Ridgecrest and Trona, respectively northwest and southeast of the epicenter, and in sparsely populated areas, said Egill Hauksson, seismologist at Caltech.