On Thursday, Southern California was rocked by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake. As per the news reports, its epicenter was situated in an isolated region in the Mojave Desert. The earthquake hit between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
According to the United States Geological Survey, it was one of the most powerful earthquakes. Moreover, the tremor has shaken Southern California almost after two decades.
Prelim M6.6 Earthquake Southern California Jul-04 17:33 UTC, updates https://t.co/U0QmdQsbaW
— USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) July 4, 2019
Was anyone injured after the earthquake?
The earthquake struck shortly after 1 p.m which caused dozens of aftershocks. Also, people were informed to evacuate their apartment buildings. Luckily, the authorities said in the news conference that nobody was seriously injured in the incident.
Credits: USA Today
David Witt who is the Kern County fire chief stated that they were getting emergency calls from Ridgecrest. It is a small desert city which has around 30,000 residents. Moreover, the place was extremely closer to the epicenter.
Emergency workers were sent to help the citizens
There were few injuries reported, downed power lines, a couple of house fires, and some gas leaks in the region. Furthermore, Chief Witt added that emergency workers from other fire departments were sent to Kern County to help the citizens.
6.4 earthquake hits Southern California. God punishes us for the cancellation of Mad magazine.
— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) July 4, 2019
Moreover, they had less manpower to help, but within 2 hours they got more workers to help during the emergency situation. The officials also evacuated Ridgecrest hospital and several apartment buildings.
1.9 magnitude #earthquake. 5 mi from Ridgecrest, #CA, ######################################################################################UnitedStates https://t.co/xa2hiJvtS9
— Southern CA Quakes (@quakesLA) July 5, 2019
Besides, people have opened temporary shelters at two locations which include Walmart in Ridgecrest. However, Alan Jones who is an employee with the Parks and Recreation Department stated that only a handful of people arrived at the location.
