we ve had small vegetation fires. power lines down. gas leaks. reporter: 20 victims taken to ridgecrest hospital, where at the same time, they had to evacuate part of it due to unsafe conditions. the computers were flying off onto the ground. the water bottle container was shaking, all the cupboards and doors were opening. reporter: roads ripped open outside of town. this liquor store destroyed. contents of these supermarket shelves tossed to the floor. a big jolt and felt all over southern california. reporter: the quake lasting at least 20 seconds, felt as far away as las vegas. in los angeles, water mains bursting. all units, all units, we are on city-wide earthquake mode. reporter: crowds of people pouring out of buildings onto the streets. seismologist lucy jones says this was a strike-slip quake. that means the two plates along the fault move parallel to each other, but in opposite directions. she says 30 minutes before the main quake, there was a 4.2
mall. bullets flying as shoppers run for their lives. two suspects still on the loose. fatal mixup. two families blaming police for misidentifying a badly beaten man. the wrong family making the heart-wrenching decision to remove life support. and taking a stand. the tense moments between an african-american couple and a white contractor who showed up to their house with a giant confederate flag on his suv. the couple s reaction going viral tonight. good evening. and it s great to have you with us on this fourth of july holiday. i m cecilia vega in for david. and we do begin with that major earthquake rocking southern california, felt for hundreds of miles. a state of emergency at the epicenter tonight. it is the biggest quake in decades there. you can see the shaking, workers running for cover inside this restaurant. cans and bottles knocked off grocery shelves. gas leaks and power lines downed.
foreshock. and this event is not over yet. there is about a 1 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. stark warning there. eva pilgrim joins us live from the quake s epicenter in ridgecrest, california. there have been aftershocks all afternoon long. eva, you felt one just a few minutes ago. officials there are very concerned about more. reporter: that s right, cecilia. we felt aftershocks just here just a minute ago. i was actually standing, i want to show you, down here. and you can see how much the earth has moved in this quake. you can see the water main pipe here completely moved apart. that was done by the earthquake. and the water now pooling down here. we felt about 100-plus aftershocks in the aftermath and officials say at least ten of those have been 4.0 or higher and we re told that there could be one even bigger than that, that is why the mayor
the south carolina sky, sparking a difficult firefight. there are several fire calls you can point to and say, these are once in a lifetime. and this clearly is a once in a lifetime call. reporter: rockets of all kinds going off in every direction, as crews battled the blaze. it took 45 minutes to knock it down. you couldn t really stand around, because there was so much smoke in the air from the fireworks. reporter: the containers were near charlotte. investigators tonight are working to determine what caused the blast. thankfully, nobody was hurt. that wasn t the case last month when 12 firefighters in roswell, new mexico, were injured, two severely burned, when the fireworks they were packaging for their annual display exploded. fire officials pointed to the recent dry weather in south carolina, but there s still no official word on what sparked this morning s fire. cecilia? okay, victor, thank you. next, to the hunt for two gunmen who turned a shopping mall into a war z
crews battling house fires. multiple injuries reported tonight, and the hospital there at the epicenter in ridgecrest forced to evacuate. so far, hundreds of aftershocks and the region is bracing for more. abc s eva pilgrim starts us off in kern county. reporter: tonight, damage reports coming in. southern california rocked by a major earthquake. the largest to hit the region in 20 years. surveillance inside this restaurant capturing the intense shaking. employees running for cover. pictures falling off the wall. the 6.4 quake hitting at 10:33 a.m. local time in the mojave desert. the epicenter 11 miles northeast of the town of ridgecrest near the china lake naval air base. next thing we know, we started feeling rapid shaking. i was grabbing her and things were flying off the walls. reporter: near the epicenter, this house completely engulfed. we had multiple injuries. we ve had two house fires.