Eastern California was struck by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The USGS pinpointed the epicenter near Searles Valley, a remote region located about 160 miles northeast of Los Angeles, between the Sequoia National Forest and the Mojave Desert.
The quake was felt in Los Angeles, where social media users posted images of swaying chandeliers and sloshing pools to demonstrate the earth’s movement.
Closer to the epicenter, the Kern County’s fire department said it was working nearly two dozen incidents, ranging from medical assistance to structure fires in and around the city of Ridgecrest, Calif. Assessments of critical infrastructure and highway passes would be conducted, they said.
Jodi Miller, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, told The Washington Post the department has not received any reports of damaged buildings, but that the earthquake caused a 12-inch crack in Highway 178 three miles west of Trona Road and the California department of transportation had been notified.
The quake also set off a number of house alarms, Miller said.
Lucy Jones, a seismologist affiliated with the California Institute of Technology, said on CNN there had been smaller aftershocks following the earthquake and those could likely continue for an unknown period of time…..