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Magnitude 4.9 Quake Hits Ridgecrest Friday Morning

RIDGECREST (CBSLA) – A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck near the Kern County town of Ridgecrest early Friday morning.

Magnitude 4.9 Quake Hits Ridgecrest Friday Morning
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck Ridgecrest at 6:11 a.m. on July 12, 2019. (USGS)

The earthquake hit at 6:11 a.m. about 5 miles northeast of Ridgecrest, which is located near the Mojave Desert, around 160 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

It struck at a depth of 6.02 miles. No serious damage was reported. It was felt as far north as Fresno, as far east as Las Vegas and as far south as San Diego, according to the USGS "Did You Feel It?" application.

Ridgecrest earthquakes
Ridgecrest residents inspect a recent fault rupture following two large earthquakes in the area on July 7, 2019 near Ridgecrest, California. A 6.4 magnitude 'foreshock' on July 4 was followed by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake the next day. The 7.1 magnitude temblor was the largest in Southern California in twenty years. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Last week, the region of Ridgecrest and Searles Valley was struck by two large earthquakes in consecutive days. On the morning of July 4, the region was hit by a magnitude 6.4 quake, the largest to hit Southern California in 20 years.

However, that turned out to only be a foreshock to the main shock, the magnitude 7.1 earthquake which struck on the night of July 5, ten times larger than the 6.4 quake.

There were no deaths attributed to either one. However, the quakes damaged roads and ruptured natural gas lines, destroyed or damaged several homes and businesses and left the tiny San Bernardino County town of Trona without water for several days.

RELATED: Trona Residents Pack Town Hall To Ask: Where's The Water?

There have been hundreds of aftershocks throughout the past week. Seismology expert Dr. Lucy Jones explained that Friday's earthquake was not unexpected given the recent activity.

"Remember, we said that the relative number of large magnitude quakes is constant, and more M5s in the sequence would be normal," Jones wrote on Twitter. "This morning's M4.9 is normal and it's having its own aftershocks."

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