Large 6.4 magnitude earthquake rattles Southern California morning of July 4 holiday

New York Daily News, The (NY)

Jul. 4--A sizable earthquake shook a large swath of Southern California on Thursday, lighting up social media ahead of the July 4 holiday fireworks.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 but was quickly downgraded to a 6.4.

It struck in a remote area of Kern County, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles shortly after 10:30 a.m. local time.

There were no immediate reports of major structural damage or fatalities.

People from the desert to the Pacific coast reported feeling the rolling waves that lasted some 30 seconds.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay said it lasted so long, she thought it was "the big one."

"Been living in Los Angeles all my life. That was the longest earthquake I've ever experienced. Not jerky. Smooth and rolling. But it was loooong. It was so long I thought for the first time ever 'Is this the big one?' Damn. Respect Mother Nature. She's the boss," DuVernay wrote in a Twitter post.

La Toya Jackson called it "absolutely horrible," saying it sent her chandeliers "swinging."

The quake was one of the largest in Southern California since the devastating 1994 Northridge quake, a 6.6 temblor that caused billions in damage and killed 57 people.

The last major quake was the 7.1 magnitude Hector Mine quake that struck in 1999 at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps.

Christine Goulet, a director of the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC, said Thursday's quake was shallow at about 6 miles deep, leading to the strong ground motion. She said it didn't make a larger quake any less likely.

"There's a common misconception that if you have a lot of small quakes, it takes away the energy for a larger one, but this is mostly wrong. It would take thousands of small ones to release the same energy, and they would have to be on the same fault," she said.

"We still expect to have a large damaging earthquake in this country. If it doesn't happen in the next 50 years, I will be surprised," she said. "We don't know when. If we knew and we could predict, we'd be rich."

One Twitter user posted video of shattered glass covering the floor of what she identified as her father's liquor store in Ridgecrest, Calif., about 11 miles from the epicenter in Searles.

Goulet said people in earthquake-prone areas should view Thursday's shaker as a reminder to stock up on water and supplies and keep sturdy shoes in their cars.

"In Los Angeles, most of our water is imported. People don't realize that if there's a large earthquake on the San Andreas Fault, we could lose water for months," she said.

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