Seconds. We stayed under the table until the shaking stopped. I said well be okay. Were starting to get the initial video and pictures. Obviously everybody is posting things. That were seeing from the effects of that tremor. What were seeing is an impressive fire. This is not from the yesterday. This is from now. This is from a im waiting to get the location. It maybe ridge crest, california. Where alex it is ridge crest. Confirmation. You might be looking at video that we sent in. Were working on cell phones and were pitch back. Its a very impressive explosion. What appears to be a house fire. I know yesterday authorities told us this were several, numerous loose and broken gas pipelines. Thats always a danger. Sure. We certainly saw out of the
restaurant and everyone was able to get out. We headed back to the neighborhood that we have been in earlier today. The neighborhood that was more affected by thursdays quake. A number of mobile homes and Trailer Homes there. A couple people screaming they were trapped inside their house. We helped one woman out and another man. Excuse me. This is what you heard as you left the restaurant . This is what we experienced we regrouped outside the restaurant sp headed to the neighborhood down the street of the mobile homes. There was a Woman Shouting she was trapped in her home. We went in to help. And we started to see just down the street im going interrupt you. Were getting a briefing by the u. S. Gs. Further away from the los angeles area. My expectation is ridge crest is having a difficult time tonight. It is a fore shock. After shock becomes bigger than the main shock. We change the name. Everything before the 7. 1 would be considered a fore shock to this. This is an Earthquake Sequence. It will be ongoing. It is cloerly a very energetic system. Sequence. So theres no reason to think that we cant have more large earthquakes. The largest after shock on average to a 7. 1 would be a magnitude 6. Another 6. 0 similar to yesterday would not be surprising to anybody. We dont have a lot more information. You can see on the map where the locations of the earthquake and after shock are, the blue are all earthquakes that happened before the 7. 1. The last 24 hours. And so you can see this basically happened at the end of the zone that moved previously. Were seeing a few earthquakes way up to the northwest. We know the faults extending that far. It may welcome back down to where the 6. 4 was. We can guess at the size of the fault. From the magnitude. 40, 50 kill mometers. Something like 30 miles long. What were seeing is about 15 miles. So probably involving the lower part too. Okay. Briefly, actually when this occurred we were on a call with geologists from the survey in california. Who are out in the field. And so they are going to go out and start looking and seeing what actually happened to the
ground. The earthquake yesterday did cause Surface Rupture. I would highly expect the quake tonight is also going to break up to the ground surface. So we will be getting information from them. Hopefully later this evening. And relay that information to you. As we can. Ongoing . Typically how long. Usually after shocks lasting for years. Yeah. The expectation is well have after shocks tonight and will continue on. We will continue well come back in 30 minutes. As we get information and analyze the data. Thank you, very much. How much bigger good evening, everyone. All right. Just been Hearing Officials from the survey and what they told us what this is an earthquake
sequence. What happened yesterday was a fore shock. For today. Which was a much bigger quake. Ranking at 6. 9 and this they are not ruling out there could be a bigger tremor or bigger quake after this. They say its ongoing sequence and this is a strong one. Lets go to paul. Hes in rich quest as well. I have been speaking to alex. She said it was the most terrifying moment of her lie. Shes covered earthquakes before. What did you see . All right. Well go back to him in a moment. Well be speaking in a second to karen. Our meteorologist. Shes with us now. You were listening to what they were saying. An ongoing Earthquake Sequence. That was one of the most interest things i have heard out of that conference from noted
seismologist. She all along said we have a about a one in 20 chance that were looking a at stronger earthquake. I thought okay, this could happen in a couple days. I thought we may have been in the clear. I was wrong. They have now revised the intensity of the earthquake to 6. 9 magnitude. Initially it was 7. 1. She did say this was a very dynamic situation. And it has been. Because we have seen hundreds and hundreds of fore shocks. All those events that we Saw Yesterday were fore shocks including the 6. 4 magnitude. That we reported that happened just after 10 30 a. M. Local time. The folks in l. A. Felt it. People in bakersfield and las vegas. This is 6. 9. And were still getting and collecting some data. She said there might be a stronger one than this. This is not part of the fault. That is the fault line. There are all kind of tiny little fault ts across the region. Let me go ahead. Ill zoom in across the region and give you a view. Well zoom in. This is the ridge crest area. A very tine n town. Theres a Naval Air Station. Near china lake. A huge facility. And yesterdays epicenter occurred just on that particular base. The naval weapons base. This one were trying to get the exact location. Look at the pattern here. Hundreds and hundreds of reports of fore shock. Everything is now is an after shock. She referenced some of the activity that is more towards the northwest of this epicenter. And thinking maybe this is the part of the fault line that extends further than they had
anticipated. Thank you. We can go to paul. Hes in ridge crest. What did you feel, whats the situation . Just moments before you tossed to me we felt another after shock. You can see down there the Flashing Lights of fire engines. A house was completely a blaze. I took a still photograph earlier. They did quick work to put it out. This is the two step you get in earthquakes. The Ground Ruptures and at times you will then see the rupturing of gas lines and fire follow. Its strongly suspected this is one of the gas fires. People around the neighborhood saying this was that previous 6. 4 earthquake. It rattled the neighborhood here. When we were driving beginning to wrap up. We were on the the street and everything was rocking and
swaying. Extreme intensity. Compare it to north ridge earthquake of 25 years ago. And remarkably to me this is a quake that in l. A. Killed almost 60 people. Injured almost 9,000. This felt stronger. It was in serious strong jolt. And people came out of their houses. They had the look of terror. Because it had been all week long that they had been suffering through this. In the last couple days they had been suffering through the quakes. The next thing theyre looking for is house fires. Back to you. Paul, thank you. That is great reporting. We did see the pictures that he took. That was the house on fire that we showed you. That was one of the gas fires he was describing. Will the me recap. Its a few minutes after 9 00 p. M. Local time in california. Its after midnight on the east
coast. And short while ago, a 7. 1 magnitude earthquake was felt. I pause on that number. Because its just been updated. We had it as 6. 9 the early read. Thats been upgraded to 7. 1. That tells you how much stronger it is compared to yesterday. 6. 4. Were realizing that yesterday was a fore shock. With today seemingly being the main thing. They are not ruling out there maybe a stronger quake to come. In the even today could end up being the fore shock to something else. An Earthquake Sequence that is ongoing. We just got the explanation. I want to go to alex fields also in ridge crest. Tell me more. You told me of the scene you saw when you left the restaurant where you were. When you fell the quake, you went out and went to the areas that you thought was vulnerable. Tell me again what you saw. What we saw were people yelling inside their home. Some saying they were trapped. We were of course trying to call 911. Unable to get through. Our photographer got to two homes to help people out. We saw heavy smoke and flames down the block. The power is out. It is very dark here this happened just around the time of sun down. As we were walking through the neighborhood. We smell gas. We backed out of the neighborhood. Were in the parking lot of the Regional Hospital here. The hospital that was affected by the earth wake earlier in the week. Parts of the hospital were closed. There is a tree oj center. They set up outside of the hospital. And the we can see not just ambulances coming in but a number of cars who have been
able to get out. And seeking help here. Tell me more about the center. The hospital announced yesterday it Wasnt Running at full capacity becaus of the the quake thursday. Youre there now. Saying the center. This is small town. Talking about 30,000 people. Give us a rough number of volume. The people coming in. The volume is population about 28,000. Were seeing i cant really begin to give you an estimate of how many people. Its dark. We have seen a few ambulances come through. We are being pushed back a chaotic situation here. Its quite dark. We have seen a number of people come by and getting help. I have not seen any injuries that appear to be terribly great. Its way too soon to tell. When i was in the restaurant where all the glasses were smashing and tables were falling
and things were falling off the wall, people were screaming. Some did appear to be injured. One man was screaming he believes his wife broke her leg. Its certainly going to take time to get a handle on the injuries. It seems very clear people are beginning to arrive here looking for help. I want to give viewers context. I said this 7. 1 earthquake today was a lot stronger than the 6. 4 yesterday. I can put a number on that now. It is eleven times stronger. Todays quake. Compared to yesterday. Thats the information thats coming in. That certainly puts perspective on what just happened to you. And the people in ridge crest. Also, minutes ago you three minutes before i spoke to you. Paul said he felt another after shock. Did you feel that . We felt it adds well. Standing in the parking lot in front of the hospital. We felt it. We were certain of that. We expect that to continue. So, i think people are just navigating without power on. Concerned about utilities and downed power lines and concerned about gas leaks. Things of that nature. The fire we saw in the neighborhood. You have to be prepared for the possibility of an after shock and people now potentially in their homes and no longer knowing if they are structurally sound. Are people staying in their homes . Or is it one of the situations where theyre going out. There was a neighbor by neighbor effort to evacuate on the street that we were on. Again its tough to get around to. On the street we were on with the mobile homes, people were in the streets yelling to each other. Get out. Stay away from the power line. There was absolutely the sense of urgency people needed to leave their homes. They were concerned. That you could see another after shock or there could be individual damage. Or something falling over. A desire to help neighbors get out and get to some kind of safety. Thats what people need to do. Get to safety. Youre right to point out obviously the structural viability of the homes especially in ridge crest is of paramount importance. Well come back to you before long. I want to go back so sarah in l. A. We now know that today that yesterday was just a fore shock for today. And todays quake was eleven times stronger than felt yesterday. Yeah, i want to give you perspective. For those folks and people Around The World saw what happened in 1994 here. In north ridge. Where the earthquake there significant damage, people killed. In a very pop late td area. One of the images in my mind is when an overpass collapsed. That was a 6. 7 quake. Okay. That gives you idea of the potential of damage. The only good thing in this that this is not in a heavily populated area. But still, 28,000 people are feeling this. At the epicenter. That is significant. Going back to 1989. It happened in the San Francisco bay area. Significant damage there. Lots of fires. The part of the bay bridge collapsing. A freeway collapsed on itself. So this is stronger even than that earthquake. Those images are set in peoples
minds. When they hear earthquake. Because those are the last really large earthquakes in really populated areas. Now youre seeing one of a 7. 1. They have revised the magnitude of the quake. And that is a significantly large earthquake. So the potential for damage as we talk about it growing. Thats exactly right. Eleven times. As you heard from the seismologist there are going to be large after shocks. Its just expected. The large after shocks that are going to effect could be a six. That is if this isnt a fore shock again. The renown seismologist made sure to say over and over again you do not know whether or not youre dealing with a fore shock or the main event. Yeah. She said at this stage what we know is this is part of a
sequence. We dont know if theres something stronger coming or whether it will climb down from here. What do they need to do . Theyre 150 miles from the epicenter. What precautions do they need to take . So when we got the first feeling of an earthquake it was a 4. 5. It was 6. 4 lt first one thursday. In Ridge Crest Epicenter there. Los angeles felt about a 4. 5. What it did is remind everybody that lives in earthquake prone areas whether it is here in the u. S. Or across the world, that you must be prepared for these things. For example, people are starting to get water. Starting to talk about the things they need as far as supplies. Just in case their supply chain is cut off. Everyone knows to make sure to
have a full tank of gas. If it happens on the road you may have places fo go around. And remember when you feel the quakes the best thing to do is to get underneath something that is sturdy. A Kitchen Table work ts fine. Seismologists tell you even if its something kind of cheap. That isnt a big fancy table. Keeping your head safe. People get hurt from falling debris. It could be a cup falling off a shelf or painting or picture. And the glass breaks. If it breaks over your head youre dealing with an injury. To try to keep yourself safe getting underneath Something Like a Kitchen Table. Is really important to remember when you have these kind of events. Theres also the fear of gas leaks. Theres a real and present danger there. We see in many of the events, certainly that happened in north
ridge. That happened during the quake for anyone who lived here at the time. Everyone remembers seeing the marina on fire. And that was partly because you saw gas lines broken. Pipes break they burst. You get fires. And that could cause quite a bit of damage. You can have explosions as well. People are reminded where is can i turn off my gas. If i feel this quake. There are many homes that have been fitted with something that automatically if they feel a hard enough shake will switch the gas line off and keep homes safe. Ill ask you to pause. Theyre briefing us again. This is going to more intense shaking. This kayyem through as a 3. 5. This was on the same fault
line at the 6. 4 . The same fault system. It has multiple strands to it. We have already seen the two. I think it got the magnitude wrong. Yeah, unless it hasnt come through yet. Can you explain the shake alert again . People just got the initial report. It quote on quote wasnt working. Can you explain again that lets let the u. S. Gs handle that. The system worked. That was a 5. 1. The system the Shake Alert System worked on the u. S. Gs side and the shake alert l. A. Side. The reason why alerts didnt go out to l. A. County is that the threshold for shaking was set above what the estimated shaking would be. So, it was just the way that the system was designed. The same thing happened again tonight. My understanding the alerts didnt go out on shake alert l. A. The magnitude that was estimated with a Early Warning system was 6. 2. So the initial magnitude estimate was too low. Consequently the intensity fts below that threshold. So, the system is not perfect. But again, what was experienced here in pas dean, l. A. Area. These are not damaging motions. Ridge crest those are damaging motions. Those folks are feeling it. Whats the chance of another large quake tonight . Theres a 5 chance that this could be followed by a larger quake. The number of 5 is usually
for a few days. The most likely time is within a day. We saw 30 hours or something. You dont recall of Niz Earthquakes Sequence was a 7. 1 was followed by a bigger earth. Just not in california with the series. Places elsewhere in the world. There was a 8 fore shock to a 9 in chile. In this state. You have never seen anything follow a 7. 1 . Boy, yeah. That doesnt mean we have in nevada. Fair field earthquake. The take away here as we have just seen between yesterday and today. Quakes that when you say are main shocks can be fore shocks to larger quakes. We wont know until it does or doesnt happen. Theres a small percentage. Yeah. 17 kilometers. The epicenter is deeper. But we have geologists in the field. We havent got reports back. Thats the ten mile. Its ten miles down. Where the one yesterday was more like six or seven. However, a bigger earthquake also involves a larger fault. I probably this is coming to the surface. And is there what youre worried about is are we going to trigger something outside of the region. Probably not. Why . Were too far away. The ability to trigger another earthquake is spatially defined. The most likely place to trigger it is at the same fault. As you go away a distance its
much less likely. How far from the san and reese . Quite a ways. Over 100 miles from the location. The gar lock fault is another long fault. If we were triggering something really big it might be a source. This is like when landers happened. And we said if were going to set off something bigger. Of course it didnt happen. It was a possibility. A low probability possibility. The gar lock really runs through the isolated parts of california. There were two faults making the l pattern. There was a lower leg. The top part. Its the northwest part thats extended. The southwest striking one doesnt seem to have h