WASHINGTON: Southern California was hit by its largest earthquake in two decades on Friday, a 7.1-magnitude tremor that rattled residents less than 48 hours after another quake struck the same area.
The shallow earthquake hit a sparsely populated area near the small town of Ridgecrest, around 240 kilometres northeast of Los Angeles, where it was also felt.
With details of the impact still scarce, no deaths had been reported late on Friday evening, but there were reports of damage including fires.
“Homes shifted, foundation cracks, retaining walls down. One injury (minor) with firefighters treating patient,” San Bernardino County Fire District wrote on Twitter.
“Early reports show damage is more significant than yesterday’s quake,” it added.
The quake was 11 times stronger than the 6.4-magnitude quake “foreshock” the previous day, according to the United States Geological Survey.
“This is an earthquake sequence. These earthquakes are related,” said Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones.
