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State of emergency declared for San Bernardino County; L.A., O.C. search and rescue crews head to Ridgecrest in wake of 7.1 earthquake

by in News

Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino County in the wake of a powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Friday night, as urban search and rescue crews from around Southern California headed to Ridgecrest and surrounding areas to help assess the damages.

Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue Team 136 and Hazardous Materials Team 811 were sent Friday night. A heavy rescue apparatus and urban search and rescue support vehicle with six firefighters also headed to areas that felt the brunt of the quake, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

San Bernardino first responders reported 911 calls coming in from northwest communities in the county, with homes shifted, foundation cracks and retaining walls down.

Numerous gas leaks were detected in the Trona and Argus areas, according to San Bernardino Fire authorities. Firefighters secured leaks where possible and evacuated residents from homes where the leaks could not be secured, the agency announced.

The Ridgecrest Police Department sent out a plea for Trona, saying the community is in “serious need of water.” Police urged anyone able to bring a case, boxed or wrapped, to the Ridgecrest Police Department, so it could deliver water to Trona in a trailer.

Trona, a tiny unincorporated community on Death Valley’s southwestern border, is 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles and an hour and a half north of the High Desert community of Adelanto.

A state of emergency helps to get resources in play more quickly and allows counties to recover some of their expenses when disasters strike.

The quake that hit Friday at 8:19 p.m. in rural Kern County shook Southern California, damaging roadways and causing an unknown number of injuries and structure fires. It was the second large quake to rattle the region in two days and was centered roughly 11 miles northeast of Ridgecrest, near where Thursday’s 6.4 magnitude quake hit, the USGS said.

 

Several injuries and multiple structure fires were reported in the Ridgecrest area, state officials said late Friday night. But the extent of damage wasn’t immediately clear, due in part to the fact that the quake hit just before nightfall, making it difficult to assess the severity of the problems, said Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

“As the day breaks (Saturday morning), we’ll be able to get a better assessment of the damage,” Ghilarducci said.

Kern County fire officials also said late Friday that there were an unspecified number of injuries, along with fires in parts of the county, which opened an emergency shelter, according to The Associated Press.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom activated the state’s Office of Emergency Services to its highest level, enabling state emergency crews to respond and coordinate with other first responders.

Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the Unites States Geological Survey, said the USGS has reclassified Thursday’s earthquake as a foreshock, since Friday night’s earthquake was larger in magnitude.

“It will be ongoing,” Jones said. “It is clearly a very energetic sequence, so there’s no reason to think we can’t have more (earthquakes).”

On Friday, scientists at Caltech said there were 1,400 aftershocks as of mid-afternoon, including a 5.4 magnitude quake that struck at about 4 a.m., scientists said.

“Prepare yourself for the next week to two weeks, this isn’t going to stop in the near future,” Ridgecrest police Chief Jed McLaughlin told residents late Friday night.

There were numerous reports of the quake being felt throughout Southern California, and beyond.

 

A report from ABC7 showed highway damage along Highway 178 in Trona, near Searles Valley.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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