(TNS) - For the second consecutive day, a major earthquake shook Southern California and was felt far beyond, stopping the NBA’s Summer League games in Las Vegas, forcing the evacuation of rides at Disneyland in Anaheim, and reminding residents that the state is always on unstable ground and destined for more.
It registered a magnitude of 7.1 on Friday night and was the strongest earthquake to hit the state in two decades, causing fires in the small town of Ridgecrest (population 29,000), and sending shock waves felt more than 300 miles away in all directions – Sacramento, Phoenix, Mexico.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit at 8:19 p.m., 11 miles north-northeast of Ridgecrest, near where a magnitude 6.4 quake hit Thursday morning, but was more shallow. It was followed by nearly 100 aftershocks, some of which were magnitude 4.0 or higher across the Searles Valley, an area straddling Inyo, Kern and San Bernardino counties.
Friday’s quake caused at least four structure fires, damage to roads and some minor injuries in Ridgecrest and the surrounding area, which was already trying to recover from the previous temblor.