Guys, confirm to my ears is this ridgecrest . It appears to be a house fire. Mayor breeden, this may be one of the five fires you were describing. It is absolutely raging. You see fire on the scene. Can you just give us an update . You say you believe there have been five fires. Youre not entirely sure if theyre under control. I do not know that officially. As i look around me i can see smoke but i cannot see i cannot see other than one, and thats still black smoke. Theres others that im sure that i only know of the report. And you mention as we stay on these images, you mention checking in with an assisted living facility. Did they have power . Is power totally out where you are . In some places its out and others it isnt. Okay. Okay, ridgecrest, california mayor Peggy Breeden you have many more people to talk to on the phone. Thank you so much for jumping on with me and my best to you. Dorothia smith is with me on the phone. And she felt the earthquake in trona, california, 20 miles from ridgecrest. What did you feel . Oh, wow, it was a bad shaking. A really bad shaking. Pictures coming offthewall, tvs breaking. Cars shaking, wobbling. Hot water heaters exploded, all kinds of things. My wash and dryer came a loose. It was bad. Are you home alone . Do you have people with you . Oh, yes, everybody is they all came to my house. Okay, good, maybe thats the
up side of this happening on a holiday. Hopefully folks had family and friends around them. Its also my understanding weve been covering some of these rock slides and, you know, boulders shaking loose. Have you its my understanding you saw some of that . Well, i didnt see it. We were on my niece was on her way her coworker, rather, im sorry, was on her way out of trona and a boulder fell. And a couple of people on their way into tronea said the boulde almost hit their car from the mountain. I know two big boulders came down and broke the concrete, i mean thaasphalt. So theres no way in or out of trona right now. Were stuck. Youre stuck. And after shocks, have you felt them . Oh, theyre coming. Theyre coming strong. Are you from southern
california . Is this the kind of thing youve felt before . How would you rate it among other earthquakes if youve felt Anything Else . Well, a while back there was a really big one. I was living in l. A. There was a really big one then. I think this one is worse than that one. The real big one in l. A. , i cant remember the year or anything, but this one was worse, yeah. I think a lot of people are talking about north ridge. That was in 194 i believe. Dorthia, thank you very much. Im going to let you be with your family there in trona, california. Tom seder, just talking to all these voices, folks who live in this part of it country hopefully a lot of the them are not alone and with friends and family not having to work on this holiday. But between the fires youre seeing on the screen and boulders in the middle of
highways and roads and people stuck in towns, this is incredibly devastating. It is not the Independence Day ridgecrest was hoping for and all the families, firefighters, First Responders, Law Enforcement, just the Inspection Process alone for all the homes and businesses could take a week or more. 30,000 residents in ridgecrest. Now, were working to confirm a couple of minor details. We received an email from the usgs instead of a 5 mile depth they make cut it. To cut it to 2 1 2 miles that would create more energy outward in the region. The other factor were working on they may move the epicenter 6 miles. We went through the shake map again. Again, right around 30,000 people, i mean youve got 42,000 felt very strong shaking. That is the category there are higher categories but thats
as high as this quake is going. No one felt severe, violent ear extreme, thank goodinize. 21 million felt like shaking, thats l. A. And weve got another 2 million that felt what wed call weak. This is what we want to see. This a pager we call it, you want to see green when youre talking about estimated fatalities. And theyre saying a good 65 chance no one died or maybe up to one fatality. Lets hope thats not the case. Or maybe 30 chance theres 1 to 10. You dont want to think about that but when theres calls to 911 youre wondering is anyone trapped . It doesnt take much for a chandelier to fall or a wall to give in. 35 chance economic losses could be 10 million to 100 million. That would be the Ridgecrest Area. The after shocks, this is what i
want to get into, we could still see a 5. 4. Typically when you have a 6. 4 you could have an after 5. 4 or greater. We havent had that yet. Brooke, this will blow your mind here. This is all Southern California. There are hundreds of little yellow dots. These are all quakes of different sizes typically small from the last week. Now, were going to get in closer. When you see orange this is the last 24 hours. Bakersfield, were getting closer, much closer here. Youre going to see orange in the last 24 hours. Red, thats in the last hour, brooke. Thats in the last 60 minutes. One, two, three, four, 21, 22, i mean youve got almost 42 after shocks in the last 60 minutes. Again, in orange its the last 24. So this has been an active area now and i think the Computer Models are really starting to grab onto it. Here is ridgecrest where the 30,000 live and you get closer to Death Valley National park. Yes, its higher terrain and that can absorb some of this energy, but when youre feeling that, theres no doubt there could be major damage. And were seeing it as you mentioned in this region. As dr. Lucy jones mentioned when it comes to these after shocks the last time, 1999 the after shocks lasted six months. Thats not unusual. We see this Around The World quite a bit. This is going to be really testing the nerves of everyone in the entire region. Our thoughts and prayers of everyone there and all the Law Enforcement and firefighters giving up their day today to do what they do. Lets hope no one is injured and more importantly no fatalities with this. Talking to the control room. Tom, thanks very much. Whats susannes last name. Im much better than you are there in Southern California. Are you in ridgecrest . I was in ridgecrest when it happened at home. Getting ready for work and it was a violent shake. It was a violent shake. Describe it more. The shelves, my roommates motherinlaw lives a couple doors down from house. I ran to her house, things off the shelves, broken glass. In the backyard, the pool went everywhere so her backyard is
kind of flooded. There is a fire on California Street in ridgecrest. And its a home because theres no businesses right in that area. Were looking at pictures. Let me interject we were looking at pictures of a home in ridgecrest. But a lot of people are comparing it to north ridge in 1994. You were saying it was worse . More violent. More violent . Yeah, it just shook and shook and seemed like it was never going to quit. It shook for what seemed like forever but i know it was probably 30 seconds if not that. I was just talking to the mayor of ridgecrest, and as she was talking to me she had to stop because she was feeling an after shock, which seemed to go on for a second, and, you know, listening to our own meteorologists there have been dozens of after shocks. How many have you felt . I felt the only one i felt
was the 6. 4, but my roommate had felt the one a few minutes before then. She came in and told me we just had an earthquake. And look what im watching, a show called volcano and thats not an earthquake but its scary. There are some people that have no electricity. Did you . We have electricity. So i ju can we go back to that for a second . But youre telling me you were home, you felt a 6. 4 earthquake and then you wept to work . I came running out to work as soon as i made sure my roommates mother was okay and my neighbor was okay. I i came out to make sure i had a job. Susanne you deserve a raise. Are you at the pub right now and
is anyone actually with you in it or are you alone. He came in to make sure i didnt need any help cleaning the mess up. Is there damage where you are or even in your drive from home to work, did you see damage . I did see the one fire. Emergency personnel has been going past my work so theres other things going on. I just dont know what whch i know theres other people from town and i know of one person who does not are have le electricity in ridgecrest. And then the one fire in ridgecrest i know of. I was told that the chevron here, A Bunch Of Stuff went flying off the shelves. So i would imagine the Hardware Store is even worse because they have all kinds of stuff on their shelves. Yeah. No, were getting all kind of reports of that sort of because it was so as your word, violent, rolling, shaking. Susanne, im going to let you go. Hope you get that raise, showed up at work after feeling an earthquake. April ryan on the phone with me, someone who felt the earthquake from trona, california. How are you doing and what did it feel like . Can you hear me . It was really scary. Yeah, i can hear you. Can you hear me . Yes, maam. It was really scary. We had a little one at first and then i thought that was going to be the big one and then the big one started and i thought it was going to stop in a minute and it didnt stop. And so we were just panicked trying to get out of the house because everything is falling out of the cabinet, off the
shelves, offthewalls, pictures, nicknacks, and then it was like they were flying like missiles off the shelves. Flying like missiles. I have a newborn grandson hes two weeks old only and he lives across town and i was hysterical because i couldnt get my son on the phone, and it was just so scary. Of course you were. Congratulations, grandma. And is he okay . Did you get ahold of him . Yeah, theyre here with us now. So the worry, our town is really small and our main source of income is a giant chemical plant. And the worry always is anytime Something Like this happens is the plant to have a breach or there be chemicals in the air or an explosion or something. Were just kind of nervous waiting to see if we hear the siren to evacuate. Yeah, lets hope not. Think positively. We know there have been a number of fires not too far from you in ridgecrest. Just talking to the mayor there, broken gas lines, that kind of thing. Youve had fires or broken gas lines . Weve had the neighbor down the street had a broken gas line. Theres been broken waterlines. Someones water heater fell off in the garage, and its the County Sheriff and the county Fire Department are doing a really good Job Patrolling to help people. Im sure they are. Do you have power . No, we dont have power and its probably going to be 120 here today so thats a worry. Oh, my gosh. So many people without power, so warm and dealing with these after shocks. And with a 2weekold grand baby. April, thank you so much for
being on with me. Im going to let you go. Our best to you. Lets continue on. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Welcome to cnn here on the Fourth Of July. We are in the thick of things in this breaking news. If you are just joining us we have been following the news across central and Southern California, a rolling 6. 4 magnitude quake shook the area about 90 minutes ago. Weve been talking to a number of eyewitnesses describing the initial massive, you know, shaking lasting 10 seconds. It was centered near this town of ridgecrest, california, which is east of bakersfield and about 120 miles northeast of los angeles. But folks even in las vegas felt the Rolling Shaking. The usgs, says this was the largest earthquake to rattle the
los angeles basin since 1999. And we have been counting. There have been nearly 60, that is 60, after shocks. So far no reports of injuries. We are starting to learn of some reports of damage close to the epicenter. Youre looking there at this one example of this house fire in the Ridgecrest Area. A number of people have been sharing their images and were so grateful to you all of doing that. Of their homes or ceiling lights swaying, waves within their backyard pools. And so grateful to everyone calling in, talking to me and just letting us know what their various situations are and what this Rolling Shaking felt like. Sar sarah now outside our bury in los angeles. And for people just joining us, what did it feel like when it hit you . Certainly we felt it here. Our building is about 15 floors
tall, and we could feel a jolt and then a shake. And it went on for quite some time. I think that is the one thing we all remarked on. We also talked to folks who are on the ground floor as were up three or four floors and they said they actually felt the roll. They felt the jolt, and then they felt the floor roll. And so that is exactly what youre hearing happened at the epicenter as well in ridgecrest where people, of course, felt it far stronger than we did here in los angeles. But for long time angelinas, those who have lived here their whole lives this is for a lot of people the strongest earthquake theyve felt. And sometimes you get these, its a jolt and then it stops and youre not even sure if it was an earthquake. This one was very clear and apparent. I can tell you looking out some of things on the walls started to move, but looking out onto the ground here these light
poles were definitely swaying just slightly. But theres no damage thats been reported so far here in los angeles. We are hearing in the San Bernardino area theres been potentially rock slides there and some cracks in some buildings there. We need to mention were about 150 or so miles away from where the epicenter was there in ridgecrest. And i think those in ridgecrest are experiencing a number, at least 58 confirmed after shocks so far. And i think, brooke, to your point every time you speak to someone what do you hear . Were feeling another one. Theyre coming within seconds of each other. This is natural and what happens with an event this large, a 6. 4 Earthquake Hitting there and an epicenter in and around ridgecrest. Now, the after shocks are generally much smaller. We know there was a fore shock according to the reknowned
seismologist lucy jones. There was a 4. 2 about a halfhour before they felt the larger earthquake. We will see more andmorally of these after shocks coming. They could be up to five or more or a 1. Generally speaking they will be enough for people to feel them and it wont just be today. Tle be today, tomorrow, the next day. But they will lessen in the number of them that come rolling through there. And for the people who are there, we have heard from the mayor. The mayor talking to you just now she was feeling one and it felt pretty big. But she also says, look, i am seeing there are five fires going on, there are broken gas lines. That can be the most dangerous thing in an earthquake like this because when those lines rupture they can smell fires and they also need to go to safety because there can be explosions as well from ruptured gas lines. Also if you are seeing this and feeling this and its scaring you but theres no emergency people are saying and the Police Department saying please dont call 911. There are actual emergencies happening, people potentially injured in this and they want to make sure those lines are open for those in stress, but certainly go check on your neighbors, go check on people. If youre okay there may be someone next door that isnt okay, so thats very important. The mayor mentioning that as well. I can tell you were getting obviously social media is blowing up with a lot of different things. People feeling this from las vegas to los angeles. That was such an excellent note from the mayor of ridgecrest. If youre okay, thats wonderful. Go next door and check on your neighbor and make sure theyre okay as well. He covers the trona area, weve talked to a number of people from trona. You tell me what are your Biggest Challenges right now . So right now our biggest challenge is going to be the isolated this is one of our outside outlying areas so our firefighters in the area are conducting Damage Assessment surveys and out there in the streets checking for excess issues, any damage to the roadway, any potential hazards such as gas leaks or power line issues or anything that would result from the actual earthquake itself so damaging infrastructure. We have different resources responding out there as well to assist with that. Can you describe some of the damage thats being reported in San Bernardino county . At this point were getting reports of minor to moderate damage to the structure itself that consists mainly of cracks in stucco or drywall. Our fire station out there actually had some of their oxygen tanks or sonars detached
from the wall that were secured, and computers falling off their desks. We do have some reports of up to 4 inches in the main highways or the road into the area as well as some rock slides and larger boulders that have rolled into the area. Were working with california Highway Patrol for evaluation of those major thoroughfares and entry into that region. Let me ask you about that because i was talking to a woman whose neighbor had driv in and she had recounted huge boulders coming off, you know, the sides of the roads and landing square in the middle of these major roadways and she described herself and her family in trona as being stuck. What is the situation for folks in the area who want to whats the status of the roadways . Are they stuck . So at this point the information ive received is that the major entries and exits out of the region are still intact and are passable. We just ask everyone take that
caution when they are traveling the roadways because the integrity may be compromised as they drive or they have some rock slides in the area. So theyll need to travel slow and only do so when safe approaching certain areas. Would you advise people to stay on the roads or stay put . At this point if people are able to do so and their homes are intact we recommend everyone shelter in place and stay within their area. Of course as after shocks continue to happen thats a decision everyone ilhave to make on their own Comfort Level and safety. If theres any immediate hazards we recommend people call 911. It may not be any major structural damage, any power line issues well have our firefighters come out and they can evaluate those hazards and get the appropriate resources to mitigate that. Last question. How about fires . At this point we dont have any reports of any fires directly related to the incident itself. All the major hightension leans are intact in the area. We do have some reports of smell
of gas in the area or some structures. A lot of areas or homes are off of propane and not natural gas. But people if they do Smell Anything they can secure their lines. Theres could be a break in the sewer lines or septic tanks itself. A lot of bumps and bruises and a lot of traumatic injuries and of course at this point no major report of injuries or transports. Were so grateful you and your men and women do running towards dangers. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Quick note and then were going to take a commercial break. Weve been told now President Donald Trump has been briefed on this earthquake. This is what we have from the press secretary, the president has been briefed and will continue to monitor the situation. Youre watching cnn, live breaking coverage of the 6. 4 earthquake in Southern California. We will be right back. The nations largest and most reliable network. The best network is even better . Best, fastest, best. Enough. Sprints doing things differently. Theyre offering a new 100 total satisfaction guarantee. I mean i think Sprints Network and savings are great, but dont just take my word for it. Try it out and decide for yourself. Switch to sprint and get both an unlimited plan and one of the newest phones included for just 35 a month. Door Bell Rings its ohey. This is amazing. With moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay . Even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira can help get, and keep Uc Under Control when other medications havent worked well enough. And it helps people achieve control that lasts. So you can experience few or no symptoms. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, control is possible. What you need and so much more. At wayfair, youll find just you get to spend less time searching and more time loving every room, even the ones you never thought could look good. You get great deals on the things you need and actually want. You get fast and Free Shipping on thousands of items and finds for every home, and every style, at every price. Thats what you get when youve got wayfair. So shop now
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areas. Its significant having to take patients out at a time when there are also after shocks happening every few seconds or minutes there in ridgecrest. We now know there are at least 58 after shocks that have happened since the main event of the 6. 4 earthquake that happened there, and the epicenter was the Ridgecrest Area. So now we are hearing the hospital is being evacuated as these sort of rolling after shocks are going on there. Very scary for families, very scary for of course the patients. But this is what they need to do to make sure the patients are safe. There is, yes, an Intensive Care area there in the Regional Hospital there, so this is significant. We should also mention hearing from the mayor, hearing from the fire crews there, there are at least five fires that are ongoing there in ridgecrest, as well as several gas lines that have been broken in the area. These are normal things that
happen. They are danger, but they do happen after an earthquake of this size. Again, 6. 4 magnitude is a moderately strong earthquake. But it was also very shallow. And by shallow i mean youre going to feel it more. The energy youre going to feel that. So a lot of people talking about the facts they felt a jolt and then a rolling feeling. And then we talked to one hotelier who said they could actually feel the floors rippling when it started to roll. And we talked to a lot of people in one of the walmarts. And these are the kinds of things that can hurt you, that can injure people and often do in these kinds of events. That is why they always tell people if youre in on earthquake prone area if you start feeling it, just the very first moment to take cover underneath something that is strong like a table, for example, where you will not get
hit in the head or something falling down from the ceiling. We do want to reiterate so far there are rescue crews out, reports of medical emergencies and fires. And now were hearing the Regional Hospital in the area is evacuating at this time. These are significant events happening there in ridgecrest. Our hearts go out to all the people dealing with this. We have heard from families whose voices are cracking, even the mayors voice cracked and she talked about the fact another one is happening. Lucy jones we all trusted and admire and is very deeply acknowledging about this theres a one in 20 chance of a stronger earthquake happening but throughout the next three days there will certainly be a lot of after shocks and people should be prepared for those. Brooke. Sarah, thank you very much. Edgar is on the phone with me now and the manager of a restaurant in ridgecrest, which
is at the epicenter of this 6. 4 magnitude quake. Ive been talking to a number of people who have various experiences in these things and after shocks. Tell me your story. What did it feel like . It happened out of nowhere. People are in a big restaurant and all of a sudden you get this big movement and everyone starts freaking out, running out the restaurant, so it was something very when you say it was a packed restaurant what time of day was it for you when this hit . Were usually busy throughout the weekend but eknowing that todays Fourth Of July, everyones going to go out have breakfast, so we were very busy. The restaurant was very busy. I mean, you know, it could have been a different day, but it happened to be a day where everybody just happened to be
there. And ive heard various reports talking to a woman in a market who described bottles of alcohol coming crashing down, shelves moving around, somebodys washer, dryer, yanked offthewall. Was it that severe for you . It was. Like i said all of the plates started moving, going onto the floor. The staff in my kitchen dropped everything, dropped to the floor because we were getting prepped up for lunch. And we get this and everything just drops to the floor and moves around. We evacuate, and it happened so quick we didnt know what to do, you know . Have you felt the after shocks . We have, yeah. Is it a blink and its finished for people who have never felt Something Like that or is it equally frightening . Its equally frightening. I mean, you dont expect it. But when you do expect it its like what do you do, you know . Are you on the move . Are you going home is your home in ridgecrest as well . I live here in ridgecrest, but we have closed down the restaurant for the day because we dont have any power. I mean, theres nothing we can do. Out of power. I know its hot as well. Edgar, thank you so much. Lets go back to the seismologist dr. Lucy jones for an update. We think the main fault was rupturing down towards the southwest, which would have focused the energy towards ridgecrest. But then theres also a second fault that seems to have been activated going up to the northwest. Again, this area thats not completely surprising. Look at those little black lines in there, there was a bunch of them. This is an area in a lot of different faults in a complex area moving apart. It does suggest that ridgecrest
was particularly hard hit. We have reports from California Office of Emergency Services that they there seem to be a couple of Structure Fires going on in ridgecrest, and theyre responding to them. Theres also a Small Community called trona which is even closer to the ruptures, and its on a dry lake bed. We do not have any communication with them yet. It would be a place where theres potentially significant damage. As ive said, were seeing at least two faults involved. This area is characterized by robust sequences. So we expect to be seeing a lot of earthquakes today, and some of them could be could be damaging. Probably at least one more will be damaging. They just tweeted something that suggest they were anticipating a quake. Theres nothing that gives us the time of a particular event. Im going to tell you i think there will be a magnitude 5 today. I did that on the day of north ridge and people said you predicted an earthquake and i said i predicted rain in kuwai, too. When the probabilities are this high, then you can say yes. But its not the time of any particular event. If someone is giving out a time of a particular event theyre not basing it on science. Thats probably what weve really got about the after shocks. The geologists havent yet gotten out so we dont have a report on that. Oh, thats true. Did you just notice two after shocks showed up . I just saw the two extra red dots that showed up here. This type of, yes, conjugate behavior is relatively common. Back in 1987 we had two 6s on
conjugate. Big bear was a little more separated from it but it was the same type of conjugate feature. The way the stress works, if im pushing in this way i can move out here or move out here. So those essentially perpendicular we call it Conjugate Faulting is a current feature. Well have to see how it develops. Have you gotten any closer to understanding yeah, i can give an update about that. Theres a little bit of misunderstanding or miscommunication. The system actually worked as designed. So an alert was sent out by the u. S. Geological survey. The app or the city of l. A. Is setup with various thresholds. The first threshold is a magnitude 5 earthquake or greater in l. A. County. It will send out an alert. This earthquake was outside of
l. A. County so it didnt satisfy that condition. The other condition was intensity greater than 4. The intensities in l. A. Were 3 and lower. So the app performed as designed. Its just that the intensity levels were below that threshold that had been set by the app. So the system actually worked as designed. Its something that we need to look into, though, as to whether maybe that threshold should be lowered or adjusted for the future. And just to reiterate, though, there was no the level of shaking within the city of l. A. Was not damaging. So in that sense the app was worked as designed. It had worked with the levels set correctly or well, they were set lower, what would we have
seen . For example, if it had been 3, intensity 3, then people would have got notification to expect shaking. I dont know the exact wording on the app but there would have been a significant number yeah, 45 seconds before the shaking actually arrived. So the alert would have worked beautifully in that sense. But, again, the Shaking Levels would not have been damaging. Certainly it would have been great, you know, to kind of know ahead of time. Does it have a sound or is it like a text . What is it . Im actually not sure. The threshold is set high enough its never gone off on my computer or my phone. I think they may be using they were going to be using a chiming alert thats used in japan, but there was some im not sure which one they ended up
using. The issue to not lower the levels is simply you dont want to start getting so many alerts people dont start paying attention when they get them. Right, and this is something thats been studied. Just to repeat, the question was or the reason why potentially the alert level Isnt Set Lower is so that you dont have a large number of alerts with minimal shaking. And that is correct, and this is a subjective judgment. And so in designing the app you have to make a decision on that. Theres actually been a fair amount of research looking into this and other places like japan and mexico, and theres some sense that people dont mind getting an alert even if the shaking is not that severe. Which would have been the case here if it had been set to intensity 3. So this is something that maybe we need to you know, again, maybe needs to be looked at,
tweaked on the system. Yes . Sorry. Just to clarify because there had been some talk of two earthquakes today. There have been hundreds of earthquakes today. For a while the website showed two magnitude 6. 4s. So the way the system works is theres a lot of us recording earthquakes Around The World. We have a system that if Somebody Else puts up an alert and, you know, theres always some chance that the great pasadena earthquake means were not giving out anything, so you want to have Somebody Else pea able to say if if were not here. So theres a system to try and negotiate that. There was a warning, we think it was from the Tsunami Warning Center actually. And the timing, usually the system can recognize theyre the same earthquake. If one of the systems gets the time a little off, then they look like different earthquakes and the automatic system allows
it to go in. So for a short time there were two alerts, one from us, one from the Tsunami Warning Center and when we recognized it was there we went in and cleaned it up. That is not getting rid of an earthquake. By the way, ive heard the Conspiracy Theorists about that. Its just we cleaned it up. And just to clarify additionally we had been talking about two faults and so forth. Thats still the case. Were not not until we get a geologist on the ground. There are reports about faults that we did not know about. We know a lot of faults in this area. I mean just if you look again at the picture i dont know somehow which just disappeared on us if we could maybe just reload the page i would guess. But look up in that area, theres lots of little marks on the its one of the areas with a dense distribution of
mapped faults. Before im going to talk about an unknown fault i need a geologist to say how does this line up with the ones we know about . Is this relevant . Not to us. I think its a psychological issue. If its an unknown fault, we didnt know, it makes it scarier. The reality is we have a lot of little faults that never get names because theyre too small until you get an earthquake. Was this one particularly strong for that area . This earthquake is the largest in the little lake area in the last century. But in general the owens valley, the sort of Jelogic Structures up there have had a lot of earthquakes like this. There was actually a 7. 5 in 1972 thats usually called the Independence Earthquake and mammoth historically has had dozens of 6s. That area, largest earthquake in a hundred years. Does gnat make it unusual . No. From jeaegeology we need to Loo Millennia to say what standard. Were waiting for the picture to show up. I mean, theyll take a picture and send it to us and say theres the fault offset. Theres one level at which its simple. The geologists presuming there are fault off sets will probably be mapping it within the next month. Are there any trucks or helicopters . We dont have enough money to send helicopters. Theyre in trucks. The National Guard does. Yeah, no, not the geologists. Look at our budget some time. But theyre en route . They are en route. And as soon as we have information, you know, regarding fault off sets or anything like that well provide it hopefully within the next briefing or so. And since we dont have any
pictures yet, can you again sort of illustrate what thats going to look like, what a seismologist would want to take a photo of . Yeah, so were speculating a lilt bit here in that we dont know yet if this fault actually ruptured to the Ground Surface. And magnitude 6. 4s in california sometimes break all the way to the Ground Surface and sometimes dont. So until we actually have some definitive information, if it did break up to the Ground Surface what we should see is where two sides of the ground that were close together have slid horizontally relative to each other. And there may be some vertical displacements as well, but given the information that we have recorded the seismographs, it looks like the offset on the fault as its broken to the surface, will be that horizontal
strike slip motion. How does that information help you . Well, obviously if in terms of damage, if you had a pipeline or structure that straddles that fault and it moves sideways, that could be very devastating. I dont know if thats the case here, again. Also in terms of the Ground Shaking that was experienced in the Ridgecrest Area lucy was talking before how the earthquake started off to the northeast and propagated to the southwest towards ridgecrest. With this type of horizontal motion that actually can be c p amplified. Until we get some more definitive information from some folks there i cant be sure about that. But it is a possibility. Also we now do a better job of correlating what we get from our instruments with what is recorded in the ground. It used to be we needed the geologists in the field to tell
us what happened in the fault and in fact the details, we get more details by walking down that fault than well ever get from an instrument. We now over many years of recording them and comparing them we have a guess that that magnitude 6. 4 is partially a statement of how much slip happened, how much we expect the other. And at that magnitude with that fault length its under a meter but a half a meter to so a couple feet. So its a potentially pretty big offset. The question is whether its confined at depth or whether it made it up to the surface. And there have been hypotheses if it comes to the surface you get a different shaking pattern than if it doesnt. Thats an interesting piece of scientific testing that can go on because of it. Whats your knowledge in terms of how deep the fault is . Most faults well, we dont. If it is because we dont even know what fault it is yet. If it is the test. That means at some previous earthquake its come to the surface. Most earthquakes bebe gin about 5 to 10 miles below a surface. There is not enough confining if a fault could open you said you cant have the earthquake, because the earthquake is snape your fingers try snapping your fingers when they open up. And if the fault opens up you wont have shaking. At the surface its not as confined. So most faults in california extend at least from if we maam it at the surface, it probably goes at least 10 miles down and probably more than that, and just as it gets deeper
down, it behaves difficultly. Reporter theres a lot of volcanic history with little lake . Little lake is a volcanic region, there are some active volcanics. And the china lake theres magma at depth, molten rock at depth which has been used to tap for geothermal energy. So its potential a volcanic area. Reporter what was your likely his of the. 4 . 9 over the next week. If we but through a day, its a lot lower. Its not an even think over a week. The most likely time is right now. The rate of aftershocks is substantial lower now than in the first briefing, so these
things do die off really quickly with time. Any other questions . Wrap it up . Back at 1 30 or 2 00 . At 2 00 well come back and see if we have information. You mentioned the Naval Weapons Station and saying theyre probably the highest in the Ridgecrest Area. Are you hearing any damage . Damage does not get reported to us. We had a phone calls with oes, and the only thing they told under the circumstances is about Structure Fires. Reporter he heard about a wear main break in San Bernardino . It cant be. Improbable, but if it did, it was already in bad shape. Reporter well, San Bernardino is old. All right. So listening to the seismologist, tom sater, my takeaway is that there is still
a chance of another big quake, but the issue is its impossible to predict the timing. Yes, and she mentioned that. She wouldnt be surprised if we had a 5. 4, 5. 5 tacked do more damage. If you go back and look at the earthquakes in history and the data we received, thats pretty much right on. What i thought was interesting, though, brooke, a reporter asked about we thought there were two large quakes. That goes back to about a half hour ago when we were talking about discrepancy, 10 33, 10 35, we have it cleared up. But when she talked about it not being the san andreas fault, it would look like central italy. They have a whoa network. Look at that roadway. There you go. We should mention this if you look at this, with a 6. 4 quasi, typically theres one aftershock thats 5. 4 or greater. Sure there could be 100plus that are 3. 4 or higher. So to anyone if they have power in ridgecrest, if you have power and you see a pretty large crack in the plaster or shoot rock or across your ceiling, you may not want to stay for the evening if its significant. It doesnt mean anything will happen even with a 5. 4, but i cant stress this enough, brooke, there could be more damage if we get this aftershock in the next 24 hours. Tom, hang with me. I want a quick conversation with sara and then come back to you. Sarah si sara sidner, you wer
reporting that the local hospital got evacuated. Reporter yeah. And this is one of the things that all Emergency Crews and hospitals train for generally speaking, if theres an event they have to do this and triage outside that hospital, if they feel it is safer for the patient outside of the hospital because of the structural issues, they may believe theres structural issues generally, and they want to get patients to a safe place, that is what they do. They try do to do it as quickly as possible, but that is a huge event if they are evacuating the entire hospital. Thats significant. I do want to point you to new images from social media. Theres an image of a highway, a craig straight through that highway. You see this a lot, the movement underneath the soil there can
create quite a bit of damage. We have seen and heard from a lot of folks at the local grocery stores, stuff flying off the shelves. Theres images of that now coming into cnn from social media as well, where you see cans and bottles and things, this is where people often get hurt, from things falling on them. Sara, youve been excellent. Thank you. Thank you in los angeles. I want to play this quick clip. This is senator kamala harris, who, as you know, is in this democratic president ial race. She stopped and paused today. Shes from northern california, and stopped to comment. Are you familiar with what happened . Yeah, on the earthquake, listen, this is first of all, thankfully nobody has been hurt. I always have to praise our First Responders who immediately take action to make sure that people are safe and we can
mitigate whatever damage occurs. We have a good First Responder and strons response in california. So thankfully nobody is hurt. So that was senator harris on the trail there in iowa. Tom sater, im coming back to you, three minutes left in my show. Im just mindful again, a lot of folks dont have power, its hot, and at least they have loved ones around, because its a holiday. Soon enough it will be nightfall, and no power. Thats an issue. Its 90 degrees at the hospital. The forecast is for 100. So theyre going to have to get into some shelter. Heres the shake map as far as what we have seen in the last week. Its hard to see all the dots of yellow, hundreds where weve been seeing tremors, in fact theres been concern over the past couple weeks of the Swarms Building in california. Color of orange is in the last
24 hours. When we get in color, the color of red is just in the last hour. Theres bakersfield. Youll start to see the swarm. This is everything from day. All these red dots are just in the last hour. And two areas, one from the main conveyic that goes to the southwest. So very close. One was within five miles, and the other with they very small quakes, brooke, if the energy is not released in that first 6. 4, the small quakes will like purpose, trying to release this energy over the last couple days, it would last weeks. Were hoping and braying that all the of the energy was released in the initial 6. 4, if it was not, we could see a stronger quake, and you do see that in necessary types of
regions, like i mentioned in italy, a 5. Had or greater is possible. How many aftershow, so far . Were over 60. I havent seen quite a swarm, even in indonesia or japan, but ive never seen them this many in an hour or two. Theres a lot of activity. Tom sater, thank you so much. Thank you for being with me the last two hours. To all of you on this Fourth Of July, you know, in covering the 6. 4 magnitude quake, epicenter in ridgecrest, and as i spoke with the mayor, she was experiencing a on an aftershock. Her takeaway, if youre home, go next doorp, check on your neighbor. I know its easier said than done, and she said to they, try not to panic. Happy Fourth Of July to all of you watching, but keep it right here with cnn. Were going to continue with