(Bloomberg) -- Buildings shook in Los Angeles after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 hit Southern California, the strongest temblor to rock the state in 20 years.
The quake struck 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) north-northeast of Ridgecrest, California, at about 8:19 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That's a relatively rural area more than 100 miles outside of Los Angeles, and came about 3 minutes after a magnitude 5 temblor hit near Searles Valley, California, according to the USGS. A series of aftershocks followed.
A 6.4 magnitude quake occurred near Searles Valley on Thursday morning during the Fourth of July holiday. Seismologist Lucy Jones, who had earlier predicted a 1-in-20 chance of a bigger temblor, said the quake Thursday is now a foreshock of the larger one on Friday night. The chance of an even bigger temblor is possible, she added.
The Los Angeles International Airport said there were no immediate reports of injuries, and no flights have been delayed, according to a Twitter post. The Los Angeles Police Department also said there were no reports of major damages, and calls received were limited to “small issues.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Natnicha Chuwiruch in Bangkok at nchuwiruch@bloomberg.net;Linus Chua in Los Angeles at lchua@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua
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