Californians woke early Friday to a 5.4-magnitude aftershock, renewing fears one day after Southern California experienced its strongest earthquake in two decades. Susan Hough, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said the 4:07 a.m. tremor, nine miles northeast of the Mojave Desert city of Ridgecrest where Thursday’s earthquake took place, would likely be the strongest aftershock, although more powerful ones could follow. There have been about 200 aftershocks since the 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Thursday afternoon, which led to about two dozen fire and emergency medical calls but no serious injuries. “If this is the average sequence, the magnitude 5.4 would be the largest aftershock, but aftershock sequences aren’t bound by the law of averages, and this sequence is a little more energetic than most,” Dr. Hough said.

Source: New York Times July 05, 2019 14:59 UTC