7.1-magnitude quake hits southern California: USGS

Published : Jul 6, 2019 - 14:04 Updated : Jul 6, 2019 - 14:04

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit southern California on Friday at 8:19 pm (0319 GMT Saturday), the United States Geological Survey said.

The latest quake is part of what geologists are calling an "earthquake sequence" and follows a 6.4-magnitude quake that struck the same area the day before.

Volunteers assist with cleanup at the Ridgecrest, Calif., branch of the Kern County Library on Friday, July 5, 2019, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that shook the region about 240 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles Thursday. (AP)

The USGS said the previous day's tremor was a "foreshock" to Friday's quake, with CNN reporting that the latest tremor was 11 times stronger.

Residents on the ground said they were feeling aftershocks.

On Thursday, Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones had warned a press conference that there was "about a one-in-20 chance that this location will be having an even bigger earthquake within the next few days, that we have not yet seen the biggest earthquake of the sequence."

(AFP)