Operations to the highest level. Cnn correspondents join us from Southern California with the latest. Lets start with alex field in ridgecrest. Alex . Cyril, it is going to be a long night for people here in ridgecrest. The power is out. It is dark. There is not a clear handle right now on how much damage was done, but certainly the people throughout this community lived through a terrifying number of seconds as that second tremor struck. It was, of course, as you say much more powerful than the first one. We felt it alongside the rest of the community here, people taking cover, people screaming, people concerned about injuries. Some people briefly it seemed trapped in their homes. Then we witnessed a fire and immediate onslaught of emergency vehicles quickly responding. But certainly a little bit of difficulty getting through to 911 in the immediate moments following that quake. This is a night that people in this community will not soon forget. Of course, what is most important right now is to get a handle on what kind of injuries there could be, whether or not anyone remains trapped, and what kind of structural damage there could be. Even after this quake tonight alex, im going to interrupt you briefly because we are getting news now from the usgs, and theyre giving us another update. So we want to listen to that. Of earthquakes. And we have a 4. 8 aftershock that is just beginning, and well be coming down here soon. But we shouldnt have any shaking. We should turn the sound off. One thing we wanted to show you. Oh, the estimate is now up to 5. Maybe we will feel it. If this is a 5, it will be our third aftershock of magnitude 5 or greater. And the weve also had i just got the total. 17 magnitude 4s and over 70 magnitude 3s since the main shock happened. And we have the aftershock going. This comes out as actually 5, it will be the third one above magnitude 5. And i just felt that. Okay. Very, very slightly. We barely felt it. The one thing that we added to this was we brought up a picture. Our first photo in from the field in from usgs geologist ben you want to take thinking we do have geologists in the field. So they are able to get out. This is along highway 178. That it actually had been damaged in a different area during the magnitude 6. 4. What were looking at here is damage associated presumably with the fault offset. You can see where the road, down the road it has actually moved to the right. So this is the right lateral horizontal displacement that we were talking about earlier thats associated with a larger event, with a magnitude 7. 1. And the road appears to be yeah, its down towards the southeast end of this magnitude 7. 1 sequence. Closer to trona . Yes, closer to trona. Right here. And we suspect that the fault is actually ruptured much further to the northwest. That is the area thats on the China Lake Naval weapons station. Presumably theyre not able to get out there tonight. We are obviously seeing displacements that are associated with this earthquake. And what its seeing here, this is about 37 centimeters. About one foot. About a foot in total. And one thing you can notice in this, its actually not just a single break, right there. Is a distribution across numerous faults. And thats what we had seen before. This is a let me ask you this. So does that mean were looking at a surface rupture of about 25 miles in length . Well, this is just one point. And its down towards the south. I would speculate that we will find surface rupture along to the northwest as well. Am i incorrect in thinking there would be more of the surface rupture closer to the point of origin . It can be highly variable. And in fact in a number of cases where the epicenter located actually has a smaller amount of slip. If there is there is huge variability. At the ends of the fault you often see less than the middle of the fault because its tapering off before it ends. And this does appear to be at the very southern end of the rupture zone. Hopefully theyll be able to get out maybe tomorrow or the next day and look along other sections of the rupture. But this is a pretty dramatic picture. Fortunately, they were able to actually get out there tonight. Presumably, i think these guys and gals are going to be working throughout the night to gather as much data as they can. Will we see more of this tomorrow . I suspect so, yes. How many people are out there . You know, i dont have an exact count, but i would say probably 10 to 15, maybe more. There is a few of them that have come from the usgs, but there is also geologists from the Southern California earthquake center, which is a consortia of all the universities. So i think were seeing scientists from a lot of ucs and a lot of other institutions are going to be out there you dont get many chances when youre a field geologist to collect this sort of data. On that note, i was in ridgecrest until just a couple of hours ago, and i ran into geologists everywhere i went. A lot of them were there casually because they got to see what was happening there. At what point do all those people become activated and become a network of information . So its actually very difficult logistically to coordinate all this. The usgs is teamed up with the California Geological survey to take the lead on this, which is typically whats done in these type of situations. But as lucy said, there are lots of other geologists and scientists who can help out. They are actually setting up a command or Coordination Center out in the field so that people know where to go. Theyre not stubbing on each others toes. They can use their resources as best as possible, or most sufficiently as possible. There used to be a time when it was more chaotic. We now usually try to coordinate. We have set up a clearing house, and were gradually starting to even the geologists come into the 21st century and start having apps to be able to share the information. So each earthquake we get a little further down that digital spectrum. The depth of the earthquake again. You said it was perhaps ten miles deep. Does that define the intensity at all . No. Thats just where it started. And as i mention ed just a coupe of minutes ago, many times the epicenter, the hypercenter may have a small amount of slip relative to the other parts of the fault. As the rupture propagates out across that fault, it can grow. You can get much larger displacements and much greater release of energy. And this picture is proof that the fault ruptured all the way up to the surface. Earlier a fiveplus was a certainty for the rest of the time there. Have those percentages changed at all in the last 20 minutes . No. Doctor, when you talk about this being a 7. 1 there, what is it that were feeling in l. A. Kind of roughly . The magnitude it does not depend on location. It is a 7. 1 period. There is no location to that. To describe what we feel we talk about intensity. And it looks like it was intensity 3 to 4 in the los angeles area, depending on exactly where you were. From those two again, the aftershock sequence is not a surprise. It is vigorous, but its in line with what weve seen before. Maybe not anticipating it, but thats also within the ballpark. In california, Southern California would expect to have a magnitude 7 once every 15 or 20 years. The last one was 20 years ago. We would expect to have a 6 every three years or so, and the bigger surprise is that weve gone 20 years without a 6. This is more think of this as a return to what california is supposed to be doing rather than really that the last 20 years was the standard. Also, this part of california, the owens valley starting from here up through to mammoth and getting up towards reno is characterized by these types of earthquakes. There have been multiple sequences with magnitude 7s and many large earthquakes within the sequences with these large very active aftershock sequences. So this is this is far from unusual for this area. And just to point out, to follow along with, excuse me. Excuse me. Just to follow along with what dr. Jones was saying, in 1876, we had an earthquake just to the north of here 72. Or 1872. Owens valley earthquake, magnitude estimated at 7. 5 to 8. So very large earthquake. Historically, maybe about 50 miles north of where this activity is occurring. So its not in the historical record this level of activity not unprecedented. Okay. When we talk about these probabilities of earthquake, 5 is the generic number. Thats on average over the whole area. The ability to have what youre going to be triggering, if were seeing a lot of aftershocks, the numbers go up a bit just because when you have a lot of earthquakes, you tend to have a lot of earthquakes. This is an active sequence. Therefore, the chance of an aftershock thats bigger than the main shock goes up with the overall number. So this is probably, you know, this was a 7. 1. A 7. 0 would technically still be an aftershock. And when we give you that 1 in 10 number, it doesnt include that possibility as well. I apologize. I cut you off. No, that was it. Can you give a more specific locator of where that is . I apologize. I dont have a geo reference on that. It is southwest of trona along highway 178. And that i have received word that caltrans has closed the highway. Obviously, they need to do repairs. So this is between ridgecrest and trona along highway 178. How close would it be so as far as we can tell, we just have we got a message. This is just a text message from a geologist in the u. S. Geological survey. And he said southwest of trona on highway 178, rob is marking highway 178. And because we have that fault structure, we also can see its right lateral motion. So were pretty sure its on the northwest fault, not on the southwest trending fault. The southwest trending fault is left lateral. Can you read the description what does that look like . Theyre going out. They will take pictures and share them with us. And then they document at this particular location, and they measured it. This is about 30 centimeters of slip, which is about one foot. Total offset along this. And thats one of the important pieces that will be put together is whats the offset as a function going down the fault. And they actually have very sophisticated equipment where they can okay. 4. 5. Where they can actually measure in great detail. They take optical images or radar images of these structure, and then they can actually digitize that and get very precise three dimensional view of what the defamation was like. So there is going to be a wealth of data that will be able to look at and get a very detailed picture of what the rupture was. What would your questions be about this . My questions . Oh, wow. What would you like to learn from this . So theres actually a number of questions in terms of the ground motions that are radiated from faults as faults break to the surface like this. There is actually indications that the ground motions are lower than they might be expected from ruptures that are buried. If you remember dr. Jones talking about the northridge earthquake, that was a buried fault. And it was very energetic, even though the magnitude was 6. 7, it was incredibly strong shaking. This earthquake its going to be interesting to see. Its a 7. 1, but the ground shaking, at least in the very preliminary indications for this magnitude, the ground shaking may be a little lower than is typical. Ill also note that for the 6. 4 that we had yesterday, thats also the case. It looks like it broke up to the surface and the ground motions were a little bit lower than what might be expected for the average 6. 4 earthquake. Those are just preliminary assessments. But thats very important if we can understand that and then be able to better forecast what might happen in the next earthquake. And there is the other unusual point. It looks like at least on the 6. 4, the rupture moved down the fault a little more slowly than average. And maybe that cribs to the lower ground motions rather than breaking through. So we dont know yet for the 7. 1 how fast it ruptured down the fault, and that will help us i think dress some of those pictures. If were lucky, well have a different rupture propagation speed between the two event, and then we can compare how the ground motions like. If you were standing right there, would it appear to be opening up right away, or would you actually see it move . We think you see it move. Yeah. And there is actually kind of two different or two comparable things that happen. One is the rupture, which starts at the hypacenter and goes out across the fault. And its going very fast. Two miles a second. If you were standing right next to the fault, you would see something that went from that horizon over to the other horizon. The second thing thats happening is that the fault is actually moving side to side. So that rupture would go along. Thats like a zipper. And then the fault would be going a couple feet, maybe three feet per second, sliding by. So you would see a zip and then the two sides of the fault you could actually see slide by. It may take two or three seconds for that to happen. Last question. Have you what . Big enough for a person to fall into . No, no, its not opening up. If a fault can open up, you will not have an earthquake. You slip on the fault and produce shaking, just like snapping your fingers. It makes the air vibrate. Try making snapping your fingers with it opened up. You dont make any waves. If the fault opened, there would be no waves coming off of it. There are a couple of reports where people have actually witnessed the fault move. Very dramatic. Obviously, very strong shaking too. Youre going to be having difficulty standing up and so forth. Anyway. So last question . Can you give an estimate of the likelihood of another quake above a 7. Do you also have an estimate of another quake happening thats greater than this 7. 1 . Thats just a few percent lower. Greater than 7 includes everything thats bigger. Its on the order of 8 or 9 . So the people of ridgecrest are going to be feeling this for some time. But people down here are going to be feeling some sizable aftershocks. There is the potential. All the ones that are definitely above 5, the 5. 1s, the 5. 2s, the 5. 3s, they seem to be felt if youre setting quietly in los angeles. And were pretty certain were going to have more of that size somewhere over the next few days. You said the 6. 4 and aftershocks were on a southwestern type of motion. These are going northwestern would. You expect the rest of the aftershocks to be in the northwestern direction . Theyll be on both structures, probably. You wont be back here tomorrow morning . Not me. Okay. Thank you. I believe somebody will be here. 11 00. 11 00 tomorrow. Thank you. Thanks, everyone. All right. Youve been listening to officials from the usgs, the u. S. Geological survey. Theyre giving us regular updates. Captain jeremy kern is with us, captain of the San Bernardino county Fire Department. He is on the line. Your county, captain, is adjacent to ridgecrest, just next to the epicenter. So whats the situation . Correct. So at this point, as you guys know, we did have that additional quake. Immediately at that point our firefighters in the region started doing area checks and just doing initial primary damage surveys within our community. We were getting a report that there was an increase in the damage in the community compared to the previous quake from yesterday. We started deploying resources out to the region. That included again like we did prior, our heavy rescue, our urban search and rescue. Our specially trained firefighters who equipped and trained to go in there and assess those buildings for safety. If there is a potential trapped victim, they have specialized equipment to go and search for cameras, and then enter those buildings safely to effect any rescues. Weve also been dealing with water supply issues within the community over the last 24 hours or so just due to water line breaks and shortages. In case there are potential issues with fires or need in that way. So if i go down the list, number one, are your helicopters still flying . Can you repeat that . Well, if i go down the list of priorities that youre dealing with, you said your helicopters are flying over the region. I assume that means theyre looking for any fires, any signs of fire trouble. Is that still the case . Are your helicopters still up in the air . At this point, were doing a Ground Survey and search with our firefighters in the area. Its a smaller community, about 2,000 residents. We do have a local manufacturing facilities there. So theyre making contact with onsite safety and the manufacturing facilities themselves to make sure all those chemicals and everything within that facility is secure. But were doing a Ground Survey. At this point, since it is night, it is slowing our efforts a little bit. As soon as face light comes in, well get a better idea of what were seeing. Were getting reports of gas leaks, smell of natural gas. Were also getting reports of additional damage to struck checks, cinder block walls and unconfirmed reports of buildings that potentially have collapsed. We have no injuries that require transport at this point. Our firefighters are treating in the field, but nobody has been transported by ambulance. Its minor bumps and bruises, some scrapes and cuts with the broken glass from within the homes. You say the unconfirmed reports of buildings that have collapsed. At this stage, we dont know. Youve heard noises, but you havent been able to confirm them, right . Correct. And as our firefighters would enter the region, theyre just going to do a methodical search. Started assessing the structures. As the reports come in, when people do phone in the 911 calls for the immediate hazards of collapse or any significant damage, and any potential issues with power lines or gas, they did lose power in the area as well. So thats something that is going to be affecting and hampering our efforts. You say you also have teams that are able to see if anybody is trapped in any kind of structure, and if that is the case, then obviously try and rescue them. Do you have any teams that are working on situations like that right now . Is that the case . So at this point we dont have any active rescues that are working within the community. Our county eoc has upgraded to a level 2 activation. Were starting to get resources and different agencies together, Liaison Officers with the National Guard for any potential Mission Requests that we have within that community out there. We also are going to be looking at any needs or potential requests within our neighboring agency or kern county and ridgecrest. But at this point, our personnel are heading out to the region. They just started arriving. And we will be working on those estimates and start releasing information as it becomes available and it is confirmed. You mentioned water supplies. Are there areas, do you have pockets of population that currently really are in trouble on that front, do not have access to water . I know so