Operations to the highest level. Cnn correspondents join us from Southern California with the latest. Lets start with alex field in ridgecrest. Alex . Cyril, it is going to be a long night for people here in ridgecrest. The power is out. It is dark. There is not a clear handle right now on how much damage was done, but certainly the people throughout this community lived through a terrifying number of seconds as that second tremor struck. It was, of course, as you say much more powerful than the first one. We felt it alongside the rest of the community here, people taking cover, people screaming, people concerned about injuries. Some people briefly it seemed trapped in their homes. Then we witnessed a fire and immediate onslaught of emergency vehicles quickly responding. But certainly a little bit of difficulty getting through to 911 in the immediate moments following that quake. This is a night that people in this community will not soon forget. Of course, what is most important right now is to get a handle on what kind of injuries there could be, whether or not anyone remains trapped, and what kind of structural damage there could be. Even after this quake tonight alex, im going to interrupt you briefly because we are getting news now from the usgs, and theyre giving us another update. So we want to listen to that. Of earthquakes. And we have a 4. 8 aftershock that is just beginning, and well be coming down here soon. But we shouldnt have any shaking. We should turn the sound off. One thing we wanted to show you. Oh, the estimate is now up to 5. Maybe we will feel it. If this is a 5, it will be our third aftershock of magnitude 5 or greater. And the weve also had i just got the total. 17 magnitude 4s and over 70 magnitude 3s since the main shock happened. And we have the aftershock going. This comes out as actually 5, it will be the third one above magnitude 5. And i just felt that. Okay. Very, very slightly. We barely felt it. The one thing that we added to this was we brought up a picture. Our first photo in from the field in from usgs geologist ben you want to take thinking we do have geologists in the field. So they are able to get out. This is along highway 178. That it actually had been damaged in a different area during the magnitude 6. 4. What were looking at here is damage associated presumably with the fault offset. You can see where the road, down the road it has actually moved to the right. So this is the right lateral horizontal displacement that we were talking about earlier thats associated with a larger event, with a magnitude 7. 1. And the road appears to be yeah, its down towards the southeast end of this magnitude 7. 1 sequence. Closer to trona . Yes, closer to trona. Right here. And we suspect that the fault is actually ruptured much further to the northwest. That is the area thats on the China Lake Naval weapons station. Presumably theyre not able to get out there tonight. We are obviously seeing displacements that are associated with this earthquake. And what its seeing here, this is about 37 centimeters. About one foot. About a foot in total. And one thing you can notice in this, its actually not just a single break, right there. Is a distribution across numerous faults. And thats what we had seen before. This is a let me ask you this. So does that mean were looking at a surface rupture of about 25 miles in length . Well, this is just one point. And its down towards the south. I would speculate that we will find surface rupture along to the northwest as well. Am i incorrect in thinking there would be more of the surface rupture closer to the point of origin . It can be highly variable. And in fact in a number of cases where the epicenter located actually has a smaller amount of slip. If there is there is huge variability. At the ends of the fault you often see less than the middle of the fault because its tapering off before it ends. And this does appear to be at the very southern end of the rupture zone. Hopefully theyll be able to get out maybe tomorrow or the next day and look along other sections of the rupture. But this is a pretty dramatic picture. Fortunately, they were able to actually get out there tonight. Presumably, i think these guys and gals are going to be working throughout the night to gather as much data as they can. Will we see more of this tomorrow . I suspect so, yes. How many people are out there . You know, i dont have an exact count, but i would say probably 10 to 15, maybe more. There is a few of them that have come from the usgs, but there is also geologists from the Southern California earthquake center, which is a consortia of all the universities. So i think were seeing scientists from a lot of ucs and a lot of other institutions are going to be out there you dont get many chances when youre a field geologist to collect this sort of data. On that note, i was in ridgecrest until just a couple of hours ago, and i ran into geologists everywhere i went. A lot of them were there casually because they got to see what was happening there. At what point do all those people become activated and become a network of information . So its actually very difficult logistically to coordinate all this. The usgs is teamed up with the California Geological survey to take the lead on this, which is typically whats done in these type of situations. But as lucy said, there are lots of other geologists and scientists who can help out. They are actually setting up a command or Coordination Center out in the field so that people know where to go. Theyre not stubbing on each others toes. They can use their resources as best as possible, or most sufficiently as possible. There used to be a time when it was more chaotic. We now usually try to coordinate. We have set up a clearing house, and were gradually starting to even the geologists come into the 21st century and start having apps to be able to share the information. So each earthquake we get a little further down that digital spectrum. The depth of the earthquake again. You said it was perhaps ten miles deep. Does that define the intensity at all . No. Thats just where it started. And as i mention ed just a coupe of minutes ago, many times the epicenter, the hypercenter may have a small amount of slip relative to the other parts of the fault. As the rupture propagates out across that fault, it can grow. You can get much larger displacements and much greater release of energy. And this picture is proof that the fault ruptured all the way up to the surface. Earlier a fiveplus was a certainty for the rest of the time there. Have those percentages changed at all in the last 20 minutes . No. Doctor, when you talk about this being a 7. 1 there, what is it that were feeling in l. A. Kind of roughly . The magnitude it does not depend on location. It is a 7. 1 period. There is no location to that. To describe what we feel we talk about intensity. And it looks like it was intensity 3 to 4 in the los angeles area, depending on exactly where you were. From those two again, the aftershock sequence is not a surprise. It is vigorous, but its in line with what weve seen before. Maybe not anticipating it, but thats also within the ballpark. In california, Southern California would expect to have a magnitude 7 once every 15 or 20 years. The last one was 20 years ago. We would expect to have a 6 every three years or so, and the bigger surprise is that weve gone 20 years without a 6. This is more think of this as a return to what california is supposed to be doing rather than really that the last 20 years was the standard. Also, this part of california, the owens valley starting from here up through to mammoth and getting up towards reno is characterized by these types of earthquakes. There have been multiple sequences with magnitude 7s and many large earthquakes within the sequences with these large very active aftershock sequences. So this is this is far from unusual for this area. And just to point out, to follow along with, excuse me. Excuse me. Just to follow along with what dr. Jones was saying, in 1876, we had an earthquake just to the north of here 72. Or 1872. Owens valley earthquake, magnitude estimated at 7. 5 to 8. So very large earthquake. Historically, maybe about 50 miles north of where this activity is occurring. So its not in the historical record this level of activity not unprecedented. Okay. When we talk about these probabilities of earthquake, 5 is the generic number. Thats on average over the whole area. The ability to have what youre going to be triggering, if were seeing a lot of aftershocks, the numbers go up a bit just because when you have a lot of earthquakes, you tend to have a lot of earthquakes. This is an active sequence. Therefore, the chance of an aftershock thats bigger than the main shock goes up with the overall number. So this is probably, you know, this was a 7. 1. A 7. 0 would technically still be an aftershock. And when we give you that 1 in 10 number, it doesnt include that possibility as well. I apologize. I cut you off. No, that was it. Can you give a more specific locator of where that is . I apologize. I dont have a geo reference on that. It is southwest of trona along highway 178. And that i have received word that caltrans has closed the highway. Obviously, they need to do repairs. So this is between ridgecrest and trona along highway 178. How close would it be so as far as we can tell, we just have we got a message. This is just a text message from a geologist in the u. S. Geological survey. And he said southwest of trona on highway 178, rob is marking highway 178. And because we have that fault structure, we also can see its right lateral motion. So were pretty sure its on the northwest fault, not on the southwest trending fault. The southwest trending fault is left lateral. Can you read the description what does that look like . Theyre going out. They will take pictures and share them with us. And then they document at this particular location, and they measured it. This is about 30 centimeters of slip, which is about one foot. Total offset along this. And thats one of the important pieces that will be put together is whats the offset as a function going down the fault. And they actually have very sophisticated equipment where they can okay. 4. 5. Where they can actually measure in great detail. They take optical images or radar images of these structure, and then they can actually digitize that and get very precise three dimensional view of what the defamation was like. So there is going to be a wealth of data that will be able to look at and get a very detailed picture of what the rupture was. What would your questions be about this . My questions . Oh, wow. What would you like to learn from this . So theres actually a number of questions in terms of the ground motions that are radiated from faults as faults break to the surface like this. There is actually indications that the ground motions are lower than they might be expected from ruptures that are buried. If you remember dr. Jones talking about the northridge earthquake, that was a buried fault. And it was very energetic, even though the magnitude was 6. 7, it was incredibly strong shaking. This earthquake its going to be interesting to see. Its a 7. 1, but the ground shaking, at least in the very preliminary indications for this magnitude, the ground shaking may be a little lower than is typical. Ill also note that for the 6. 4 that we had yesterday, thats also the case. It looks like it broke up to the surface and the ground motions were a little bit lower than what might be expected for the average 6. 4 earthquake. Those are just preliminary assessments. But thats very important if we can understand that and then be able to better forecast what might happen in the next earthquake. And there is the other unusual point. It looks like at least on the 6. 4, the rupture moved down the fault a little more slowly than average. And maybe that cribs to the lower ground motions rather than breaking through. So we dont know yet for the 7. 1 how fast it ruptured down the fault, and that will help us i think dress some of those pictures. If were lucky, well have a different rupture propagation speed between the two event, and then we can compare how the ground motions like. If you were standing right there, would it appear to be opening up right away, or would you actually see it move . We think you see it move. Yeah. And there is actually kind of two different or two comparable things that happen. One is the rupture, which starts at the hypacenter and goes out across the fault. And its going very fast. Two miles a second. If you were standing right next to the fault, you would see something that went from that horizon over to the other horizon. The second thing thats happening is that the fault is actually moving side to side. So that rupture would go along. Thats like a zipper. And then the fault would be going a couple feet, maybe three feet per second, sliding by. So you would see a zip and then the two sides of the fault you could actually see slide by. It may take two or three seconds for that to happen. Last question. Have you what . Big enough for a person to fall into . No, no, its not opening up. If a fault can open up, you will not have an earthquake. You slip on the fault and produce shaking, just like snapping your fingers. It makes the air vibrate. Try making snapping your fingers with it opened up. You dont make any waves. If the fault opened, there would be no waves coming off of it. There are a couple of reports where people have actually witnessed the fault move. Very dramatic. Obviously, very strong shaking too. Youre going to be having difficulty standing up and so forth. Anyway. So last question . Can you give an estimate of the likelihood of another quake above a 7. Do you also have an estimate of another quake happening thats greater than this 7. 1 . Thats just a few percent lower. Greater than 7 includes everything thats bigger. Its on the order of 8 or 9 . So the people of ridgecrest are going to be feeling this for some time. But people down here are going to be feeling some sizable aftershocks. There is the potential. All the ones that are definitely above 5, the 5. 1s, the 5. 2s, the 5. 3s, they seem to be felt if youre setting quietly in los angeles. And were pretty certain were going to have more of that size somewhere over the next few days. You said the 6. 4 and aftershocks were on a southwestern type of motion. These are going northwestern would. You expect the rest of the aftershocks to be in the northwestern direction . Theyll be on both structures, probably. You wont be back here tomorrow morning . Not me. Okay. Thank you. I believe somebody will be here. 11 00. 11 00 tomorrow. Thank you. Thanks, everyone. All right. Youve been listening to officials from the usgs, the u. S. Geological survey. Theyre giving us regular updates. Captain jeremy kern is with us, captain of the San Bernardino county Fire Department. He is on the line. Your county, captain, is adjacent to ridgecrest, just next to the epicenter. So whats the situation . Correct. So at this point, as you guys know, we did have that additional quake. Immediately at that point our firefighters in the region started doing area checks and just doing initial primary damage surveys within our community. We were getting a report that there was an increase in the damage in the community compared to the previous quake from yesterday. We started deploying resources out to the region. That included again like we did prior, our heavy rescue, our urban search and rescue. Our specially trained firefighters who equipped and trained to go in there and assess those buildings for safety. If there is a potential trapped victim, they have specialized equipment to go and search for cameras, and then enter those buildings safely to effect any rescues. Weve also been dealing with water supply issues within the community over the last 24 hours or so just due to water line breaks and shortages. In case there are potential issues with fires or need in that way. So if i go down the list, number one, are your helicopters still flying . Can you repeat that . Well, if i go down the list of priorities that youre dealing with, you said your helicopters are flying over the region. I assume that means theyre looking for any fires, any signs of fire trouble. Is that still the case . Are your helicopters still up in the air . At this point, were doing a Ground Survey and search with our firefighters in the area. Its a smaller community, about 2,000 residents. We do have a local manufacturing facilities there. So theyre making contact with onsite safety and the manufacturing facilities themselves to make sure all those chemicals and everything within that facility is secure. But were doing a Ground Survey. At this point, since it is night, it is slowing our efforts a little bit. As soon as face light comes in, well get a better idea of what were seeing. Were getting reports of gas leaks, smell of natural gas. Were also getting reports of additional damage to struck checks, cinder block walls and unconfirmed reports of buildings that potentially have collapsed. We have no injuries that require transport at this point. Our firefighters are treating in the field, but nobody has been transported by ambulance. Its minor bumps and bruises, some scrapes and cuts with the broken glass from within the homes. You say the unconfirmed reports of buildings that have collapsed. At this stage, we dont know. Youve heard noises, but you havent been able to confirm them, right . Correct. And as our firefighters would enter the region, theyre just going to do a methodical search. Started assessing the structures. As the reports come in, when people do phone in the 911 calls for the immediate hazards of collapse or any significant damage, and any potential issues with power lines or gas, they did lose power in the area as well. So thats something that is going to be affecting and hampering our efforts. You say you also have teams that are able to see if anybody is trapped in any kind of structure, and if that is the case, then obviously try and rescue them. Do you have any teams that are working on situations like that right now . Is that the case . So at this point we dont have any active rescues that are working within the community. Our county eoc has upgraded to a level 2 activation. Were starting to get resources and different agencies together, Liaison Officers with the National Guard for any potential Mission Requests that we have within that community out there. We also are going to be looking at any needs or potential requests within our neighboring agency or kern county and ridgecrest. But at this point, our personnel are heading out to the region. They just started arriving. And we will be working on those estimates and start releasing information as it becomes available and it is confirmed. You mentioned water supplies. Are there areas, do you have pockets of population that currently really are in trouble on that front, do not have access to water . I know some of the power lines, i know some of the water lines may have been ruptured. There any pocket of population that currently doesnt have Drinking Water . So at this point, theyve been on the boil warning. So anything that they do have, they are advised to boil and go through those procedures. The American Red Cross has been out there in the Community Since this afternoon, facilitating need. As far as food, water, and all those requests, theyre going through the red cross. But when it comes to efforts, when the water supply system is not functioning, we have to bring our own water which is our water tenders and other resources specialized to carry that so we can do our job in case there is a potential fire or explosion related to gas leaks or anything like that. I spoke to kern county officials. They had no fatalities. I just want to triple check with you. No fatales on your side either, right . Thats correct. Captain, thank you so much for taking the time. We appreciate. We understand that you have a lot on your hand right now. The good news is no fatalities. It sounds like youve got things under control. But thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Cnn correspondents join us from Southern California with all the latest. We have several teams in ridgecrest. Lets start with alex field. Alex . Hi there, cyril. Look, because this was an aftershock, there was already an Emergency Declaration in place that will certainly help to speed the resources to the area that are needed, that will help to get people essentially the services that they could need right now. You just heard in that interview them touching on the fact it is dark here and the power is out. That will absolutely complicate the effort to make sure everyone is safe and secure to assess the injuries, to assess the damage. But i can tell you its absolutely going to be a long night for the people in this community. Weve had dozens of aftershocks since that 7. 1 earlier tonight. Certainly that has people on edge, and dont forget within the last 24 hours, theyve been experiencing hundreds and hundreds of these aftershocks. So people are now trying to get a handle on what kind of damage could have been done to their homes tonight, whether or not its safe to be inside those homes as these aftershocks are projected to continue throughout the night, cyril. Alex, tell me about the moment. Because everybody that i have spoken to who just experienced that 7. 1 tremor, just experienced it differently. And i spoke to you earlier. And for you, it was of the scariest moments that youve experienced. I told you that earlier. I still feel that way, even after some of the shock of it has worn off. And i told you that ive been through some smaller earthquakes before. Certainly were often out here covering this. You hear from people about what the experience is like. But it sparked true and honest fear to be under that table with my colleagues, realizing that it was just sort of a split second thing, that we needed to get to the safest place we could think of in that moment, which was under the table. And to hear the glasses smashing above your head, to hear the other people, parents and children screaming inside that restaurant, the lights going out. It truly terrified me. Its something that i dont think i fully understood from hearing accounts of other people who had been through things like this until we felt it here ourselves. And really, you sort of walk around for a period after that with a little sense of shock, i think. It certainly magnifies every little tremor you feel beneath your feet now, cyril. Quickly, alex, how would you characterize the demeanor, the reaction, the feeling of people in ridgecrest . When the 7. 1 hit, a few minutes before that we had an aftershock that was sizable, enough to get everyones attention in the restaurant. Certainly when the 7. 1 hit, that changed everything. It caused a lot of chaos. People were i think after they had gotten under the tables, they needed to get out quickly after the shock, they were really helping each other out. Everyone was rushing and racing to get out the doors. People were offering each others phones. People were checking each other out to see if anyone had been injure and we saw the same effort in a community nearby. People going through the streets trying to see if anyone was trapped, who needed help and trying to get neighbors to a safe place. Look, this is place where they prepare for scenarios like this. They are used to anticipating Something Like this. They certainly were dealing with hundreds of aftershocks in the last 24 hours. This absolutely changed the tenor around here, cyril. Reporting live from the epicenter of the earthquake, alex field. We have other teams on the ground. Well be hearing from them right after that break. Stay with us. Here i go again on my own goin down the only road ive ever known like a drifter i was born to walk alone youre a drifter . I thought you were kevins dad. Little bit of both. If you ride, you get it. Geico motorcycle. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more. New for summer. Here for summer. Arriving. This summer. Its bud light lemon tea. New for summer. New for summer. Youre watching cnn newsroom. Im cyril vanier. The California Office of Emergency Services is going to be holding a press conference in a little while. In fact that. So lets just listen in. All right. Theyre just testing the audio right now. So well be going straight back to them as soon as we get word from them. Now i want to go to a resident of ridgecrest, california and find out how he experienced the tremor. Im sorry, sir. Im going to have to ask you to just give me all right. Brent clark palmer. Thank you so much for joining us this evening, brent. How was it for you . How did you experience this sonoma. Organizing cleanup efforts. I mean, ridgecrest is really good about people checking on their neighbors, but some of the civic hubs like the museum and the library needed help reshelving, and, you know, getting to a place where they could open again. Im president of the charity which supports the library. I have to get in a plug for the friends of the Ridgecrest Branch library. And so we met in the parking lot, and we had about 60 volunteers who helped us put the museum and put the library back together. So that was all day. And i came home, and i was on my bed. I was, down, preparing to relax and a little bit tired. And then it started. And fortunately, because i had put my focus on things outside my own space, everything was still on the ground from the last one. So i knew i would be okay. But i have to say that so you started feeling this. You were laying in bed . Oh, yeah, yeah. And ive been feeling them all, ive been waiting to talk to you. The aftershocks never end. Aftershocks are a way of life here now. And even when you dont feel them, your stomach feels a little sick from the ground moving. Its interesting you should mention that. I experienced an earthquake and some significant aftershocks myself, both standing up and laying in bed. And absolutely, it does make you feel a little queasy after a while. A little seasick, yeah. Or maybe like youre on a horse and buggy, Something Like that. So when the big one hit, the 7. 1 quake, which is now being called the main event, how did that feel . Well, fortunately like i say, because i was in a space where it was my bed and everything that had fallen had already fallen, i have to say i didnt but this is what i want to say. Its how you feel afterwards. Right. Its well, how, why is this happening to us . And im an optimistic person, and i immediately thought whats my catchphrase for this . We are unbutted. We are unbutted by whats going on here. And i immediately organized another volunteer meeting for next monday morning when hopefully well get some space from the aftershocks and well look at once again reshelving in the library and putting things back in the museum. Now that we have this volunteer group, we have other local institutions interested in utilizing us. The schools are brent, ill say one thing. Ill say one thing real quick. Your catchphrase that you say were unbowed. Having been through an earthquake myself, youre a courageous man because when the forces of nature are unleashed, it in my experience, it makes you feel very vulnerable. Well, i had you know, i had 20 years with my exwife. So im fine. [ laughter ] i beg your pardon. Well move become on to the earthquake. She was a force of nature, i can tell you that. But yeah, what i want ridgecrest people to know is, you know, well get through this, and i have to say these big tragedies, youve been through them, you find that you have people express love toward you that you didnt expect. And you find that people want to help. Everybody wants to help. So its just creating a space where people can help. And making sure that they can heal. And helping gives you meaning for whats happening. When you help other people, it creates a context around the tragedy for the chaos and like you awhat you cant control. And how are the people around you, brent . And i just i dont just mean the people in your group. And i appreciate that youre giving it meaning. Ive also spoken to people this evening who were terrified. Im just wondering what sense youre getting of how people experienced this . Well, yeah, im very active in the community as a charity guy. And i do see all those feelings expressed even when there arent earthquakes. There are people who dont like the way things are going or dont like a certain taco or something. There is always going to be people who freak out and who are negative. And im just not that way. Are you speaking to us from your house . I am. Do you intend to stay there tonight . You going to sleep in your house . Do you feel safe . I am. Like i say, i for me, this earthquake is defined for me not by buildings falling over, but by every building in town being shaken like a cook by ki box, and everybody that can fall off the shelves, as fallen off the shelves. Were seeing pickers can of a pool shaking in a way you wouldnt expect. Im hearing voices behind you. A earthquake could have a personality, that would be it. So in my space, i havent put anything back. So im not worried about something falling on me. To be honest, if i listen to the usgs and what theyve been telling us, there are going to be so many aftershocks. Youre feeling them that its not worth putting things back on shelves right now. Im hearing voices. Are there children . No. I dont know where thats come frchlgt it might be just my cell phone. It might also be the video that were playing. So youre not taking youre not but putting anything back on shelves yet. No. And were delaying cleanup efforts for a few days. Sure, sure. Did you have power . Do you still have power . Yeah. I have a friend who was in the byers in lakes and one neighborhood fireworks ate up house after house. And his was skipped. I dont know that im experiencing the kind of luck that hazy, but i have cell phone, i have internet. I have water and whatever the other ones are. You have everything. Look, youre one of the lucky ones. Weve been speaking to authorities of kern county, and they were telling me that almost 1400 people were without power. And so it just depends where you are in the city. We have teams that are near the hospital where they dont have power. So it just depends. I also spoke to residents who sit slightly above ridgecrest, and theyre fine. They were basically bystanders to the whole thing. It just depends where you are. Some people got lucky. Others didnt. Yeah. So tomorrow is the weekend. People werent going to go to work, most people anyway. What do you expect things to be like tomorrow . So you understand, im very active with the library. We were going the open tomorrow. We had everything pristine and perfect. The staff were amazing, and now we wont open tomorrow. Sure. Its not going to open tomorrow. And im sure thats true a lot of places. And it is, even for a person like me who tries to stay positive, its very discouraging. And brent, just tell me this. And i know you have been cool as a cucumber the whole thing, but are you afraid of an earthquake as big as the one you just felt in the coming days . I do consider that might happen, sure. Okay. As far as my feelings go, i never know my feelings until ten years later. Brent, thank you so much. Youre going through all of this with a smile on your face, and thats great. Thanks for your time. Thanks for your attitude in all of this, and thanks for your account of what happened to you this evening. Brent clark palmer, a resident of ridgecrest, thanks. I want to good become to our meteorologist karen maginnis. She joins us from the cnn weather center. She is pulling together all the information we have on this. Karen . Yes. As we heard in the briefing from caltech, there is about a 10 likelihood we could see an earthquake of 7plus magnitude. Before, when it was a 6. 4 magnitude earthquake, there was about a 5 chance. So we have more than doubled the chances. We could see another strong or significant earthquake. Chances are seeing a 6plus aftershock is better than a 60 chance. And almost certain we will see a 5 magnitude earthquake take place. Those are the typical aftershocks. Will probably occur for a couple of years. All right. I showed this yesterday. Here is los angeles. There is bakersfield. San bernardino is down here. Theyre saying that they have seen significantly more damage that has occurred. But all of these lines are the different fault lines. Were going zoom in across ridgecrest, there are intersectioning strike zones, that strike slip zone. So you will see the displacement. You may already have seen images of streets where there is a little displacement. And even as it rippled out. And thats why were feeling that energy that kind of radiates towards los angeles. By the way, the Los Angeles Fire Department says theyve checked the infrastructure on the ground and in the air, and theyre saying they are good now. Different story San Bernardino, which is about 120 miles to the south of ridgecrest. So now we have our 7. 1 magnitude earthquake. Its been 20 years since weve seen anything like this. A 7 magnitude earthquake is the equivalent of about 200,000 tons of tnt. And you go to an 8 magnitude earthquake and then were doing just many multiples of that. All right. Here is our seismic activity that has taken place other the last several days. Here is ridgecrest. And you go in this direction you head towards china lake. Thats where the Naval Weapons Station is located. So you can Better Believe they are very focused on what if any damage may have taken place there. Estimated fatalities, we dont have any reports of any fatalities. The computers are saying a 65 chance that you might have one fatal. Injuries . Yes. Weve heard about injuries. The extent of which we dont know. Okay. Here is the shake map. Here is ridgecrest. About the 30,000 people felt very strong shaking, as you can imagine. You radiate from that, the energy. This is in the turquoise shaded area. Light to moderate shaking. In the l. A. Area, about 21 Million People felt that. You know they did. We hear sara sidner say she felt it. Weve seen pictures from the basketball games where people felt it. Restaurants, small marks. Markets. People could tell that something was going on here. We heard from the usgs that it was about 20 to 25 seconds. The foreshock, the 6. 4 magnitude earthquake that took place yesterday or two days ago, that lasted five seconds. But people in los angeles will tell you it shook for 30 seconds. The earthquake was five seconds. The reason it felt like 30 seconds is that energy that gets transferred here is actually bouncing off of different types of material in the form of grant nick, mountainous material, just a variety of different substrates here that we verb rate around. And thats why it cant stop immediately. It just slowly winds down. Thats why its not a fivesecond event for los angeles. The people in los angeles say this felt like a long time. It actually was fivesecond earthquake, but the energy from that just kind of radiates out. It feels less, but its still nonetheless significant. All right. As we mentioned before, 10 chance. It doesnt sound like anything significant. But yesterday it was 5 . I need to send it back to you, cyril. All right, karen, thank you very much for that. I understand the News Conference at the california Governors Office of emergency is under way. Lets listen in. Okay. You guys all ready to go . All right. Good evening. Thanks for being here. Im mark garducci, Governor Newsoms director of his office of Emergency Services. Im going to give you a quick overview of the situation in kern county, in the city of ridgecrest. As you know, over the last couple of days, there have been a series of earthquakes that have occurred in the ridgecrest area, specifically around China Lake Naval station. Tonight around 8 20, there was a second very large quake magnitude 7. 1. The quake did last for some time. It was felt loudly through most of Southern California and even as far north here as sacramento. The shaking intensity was very significant. Looking at our algorithms run through what we call our hazard analysis algorithm, the shaking intensity was at its highest level in and around china lake and just adjacent to the town of ridgecrest. We have significant reports of fires, structure fires, mostly as a result of gas leaks or gas line breaks. There are gas line breaks throughout the city. There will also reports of water main breaks. Power is out and communications is out to parts of the community, as well south of ridgecrest and in San Bernardino county, the town of trona. A Small Community of about 2000. There are reports of also some Building Collapse and Power Outages and some gas leaks there as well. Well give you briefings from the various agencies that are represented behind me. You talk about conditions on our roads and some of the other impacts. Here at the state Operation Center, we are fully activated at the highest level. Earlier tonight, Governor Newsom did talk to the white house and requested a president ial Emergency Declaration to support our operations here in the state and provide what we call direct federal assistance in support of all of the mutual aid assets that we are currently providing to mostly kern county and some to San Bernardino county. Governor newsom activated the state Operation Center at its highest level tonight, and provided right now a significant amount of fire and rescue mutual aid from the los angeles, riverside, San Bernardino and Fresno County areas to include urban search and rescue teams, fire strike teams, firefighters, Hazardous Materials response units, Emergency Medical Services, Ambulance Strike teams, and personnel. In fact roughly over 100 mutual aid personnel have been dispatched in support of these various fires and the support of the both trona and the town of ridgecrest. Its important to note that ridgecrest and trona are both very remotely located on the eastern side of the sierra. And the roads have been impacted, and getting resources into the area continues to be a challenge. It is with a little bit of a benefit that, you know, just two days ago, there was a 6. 4 earthquake that occurred there, and we had a number of resources already deployed in the area in support of kern county. We were able to then turn those resources around. Theyve just been released shortly before the 7. 1 and allowed us to have a pretty significant amount of Resources Available almost immediately. We have been in contact with both the mayor of the city of ridgecrest. Both myself have talked to the county of fire chief and San Bernardino county and are coordinating here at the state Operations Center with all the state agencies as well as those county departments to ensure that any resources that they need are being provided. Huge priorities right now for medical support and for firefighters and for emergency power. We have been in contact with private sector utilities, both the water department, our gas and electrical utility providers to ensure that they have enough resources to try to get water and power up and restored as fast as possible. The quake happened at roughly around 8 20 tonight. And so it got dark pretty fast. And situation awareness is sketchy because the power is out and there is not a lot of lighting. We know that as the day breaks, well be able to get a better assessment of the total amount of damage. And throughout the night tonight, though, we are working to move assets and resources in place or into staging areas so that we can have those resources immediately available in the morning in those communities as necessary. So with that, im going to turn it over to several speakers behind me. Theyre going to brief on what their agencies and departments are working on. And then ill come back and answer any questions you may have. Im going to first turn it over to Deputy Commissioner of the highway patrol, scott sellsby. Good evening. Ill be really brief. A reminder, its a really remote area. The good news is it being the holiday weekend, all Law Enforcement and ems had ramped up and had extra Resources Available. As far as chp responsibilities, quite a few of us are out there handling the road closures with caltrans. And there there, our folks peel off and check the structural of overpasses other than what director kim is going to tell you, were hearing pretty good news. From there their secondary mission is to assist local Law Enforcement. Right now im hearing that the calls for service have dropped significantly and most of the calls are being covered well. As the director said, when daylight comes, we did have aircraft up too. We couldnt see a whole lot. When daylight comes well have a much better idea whats needed. But the good news is the resources there are handling the situation well, and there is more resources going in the morning. Ill be ready for any questions if you have any. Next im going to turn it over to Major General baldwin of the National Guard. Thanks, commissioner. California military department is mobilizing and deploying a joint task force to the impacted area that will include about 200 security forces, sustainment troops, which are logical support and Aviation Assets including helicopters from the army National Guard and cargo aircraft from californias air National Guard. We have also alerted the remainder of the California Military department so all thor air National Guard and our state guard in the event resources are needed. Ive spoken with officials from the pentagon. Any help from out of state that help will be on its way. Ill be followed by chief tom porter from cal fire. Cal fire is repaired to respond with any of the states resources that we have and that might be needed for this. As of now, we see that fire potential is pretty low for this weekend, or moderate. And so well be able to use some of those resources from californias Fire Department to meet any needs that are unmet. Also, our office of the state fire marshall is working with the liquid pipe and fuel providers to ensure that their pipelines are safety through our Pipeline Safety program. I will be followed by david kim, secretary of transportation agency. Thank you very much. Id like to update you on the status of three roadways. The first is 178. There is significant damage on 178 as a result of a rock slide across both lanes near lake isabella. There are also severe cracks in the roadway just outside the township of trona. And this is very close to the location where cracks were discovered as a result of yesterdays event which were repaired quickly, within a few hours. There is a full closure of state route 178 in two different locations, from the San Bernardino kern county line to 14. 7 miles east of the San Bernardinokern county line, there is an additional full closure at 4. 1 miles east of the junction. Thats state route 184 and kern canyon due to the rock slide. The cracks will be filled by maintenance crews with cold mix asphalt. Other routes impacted were 127 and 190. There were rock slides on both routes tonight. They have both been cleared and both roads are now open. Ill be followed by health and Human Services. Good evening. Deputy secretary at the health and Human Services agency. We have fully activated and deployed services at the Emergency Medical Services authority of the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of social services. Were in close contact with all of the Health Care Facilities in the region and have been in communication with them to make sure they have resources they need to take care of the patients that they have in those facilities. And we also have working with the sheltering task force here within the state Operation Center through our department of social social services. Thank you. All right. Youve been listening to the emergency officials out of the Governors Office in california. I now want to go and listen to emergency officials speaking out of bakersfield who are continuing to give us the assess ment on the 7. 1 magnitude quake we felt on friday. Good evening, and thank you for coming. And most of you welcome back. At 8 19 this evening, the city of ridgecrestsustained what is being reported as a 7. 1 magnitude earthquake. As we know, on july 4th, we had a 6. 4 earthquake followed by several hundred aftershock of which were being the largest. Following the 7. 1, we had two reported structure fires. Kern county Fire Department did an awesome job, got those under control and extinguished and then there were several reports of natural gas leaks at residences. We were inundated with that. So kern county fire, Law Enforcement officers and homeowners responded and shut those off as we could. And then pg e as they responded fixed any leaks to the main lines in town. So those are all repaired and up and running. And now their focus is on repairing the residential gas lines. Our water system is intact and operational, and was never bree breached and no contamination, so water is good to go. Right now we are in a mode to where we are still answering emergency calls. And as it slows down, we will transition into other lifesaving measures if needed. And currently the hospital is sheltered in place, as a precautionary measure because of the structure until they get it looked at. Anything further than that, i would direct you to the hospital for those questions. Injuries reported, nothing but minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, as the grace of god. So other than that, he will turn it over to the fire chief. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, chief mclaughlin. As i did not mention it before, well go one at a time through each representative, and well hold our questions until the end. Afterwards, well handle some of the questions, and then well be available for individual breakouts as well. Let us now go ahead and give our attention to kern county Fire Department, bit talayan chief dee mitchell. Good evening, kern county fire battalion chief on unified command with ridgecrest police. The crest incident almost immediately following the earthquake we started to receive a numerous amount of calls for utility issues, and also we had a confirmed working structure fire at that point. We started a response initially quickly toward the desert area, as we did start to see multiple, multiple calls at that point. Around that time our command staff started again resources set up to respond. We do have a lot of mutual aid being put together to come out here. Its not just us, but initially battalion 7 resources were pulled out to the desert to address those issues we had, first being the structure fire with multiple reports of gas leaks, smells of gas in the area and electrical issues. Following that, knocked down a fire. We had a second report of a structure fire and cut resources loose to address that as well. During those operations, we simultaneously had an aerial recon done on the city of ridgecrest. The helicopter provided that along with air 1 from the sheriffs office. They did not support any significant structural damage from the air, but thats from the air. As soon as we start getting the call from utilities and life safety issues we may have, well start transitioning doing an organized search of the city grid, looking for damage of that nature. We do have our rescue task force in place for that kind of need along with mutual theyd is being sent this way. Currently we have the city bren up into branches, and were breaking out the city into the north and south branch and addressing issues from that nature. At this point, were starting to catch up with the hazardous condition calls and abundance of calls to 911. Well start transitioning to the overnight search and assessing for structural damage. On top of that, the eoc emergency Operation Center is