7.1 quake strikes near Ridgecrest, shakes Coachella Valley

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake has struck 10.5 miles north northeast of Ridgecrest California, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The quake was reported at 8:19 p.m.

Just yesterday, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck near Ridgecrest and was felt down to the Valley. A strong aftershock, registered as a 5.4, was felt in the valley this morning around 4:07 a.m.

As of 10:45 p.m., 90 aftershocks were recorded near the 7.1 epicenter, according to the USGS.

Governor Gavin Newsom has activated and escalated the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services . to its highest level following the quake.

A 3.0 earthquake also struck Thousand Palms just before 9 p.m.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1147360492333043712″,”author_name”:”Gavin Newsom”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;In response to another large earthquake in Southern California tonight, I have activated the &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/Cal_OES?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@Cal_OES&#lt;/a&#gt; state operation center to its highest level. The state is coordinating mutual aid to local first responders.&#lt;/p&#gt;— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1147360492333043712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;July 6, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

This is the largest earthquake recorded in Southern California since yesterday and prior to that, 1999.

According to Cal Tech Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, the 6.4 quake on the 4th of July was a “foreshock” for today’s quake.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/DrLucyJones/status/1147349419903160320″,”author_name”:”Dr. Lucy Jones”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/DrLucyJones”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;So the M6.4 was a foreshock. This was a M7.1 on the same fault as has been producing the Searles Valley sequence. This is part of the same sequence -&#lt;/p&#gt;— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/DrLucyJones/status/1147349419903160320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;July 6, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

The Beaumont Police Department posted that no local damage had been reported. Indio City Councilmember Waymond Fermon told News Channel 3 that no damage was reported in Indio.

As of 9:30 p.m. Friday, no other local law enforcement or services reported damage in the valley. No damage was recorded when the 6.4 quake struck.

According to News Channel 3 viewers and confirmed by the USGS “Did You Feel It” internet intensity map, the quake was felt in every city in the Coachella Valley.

According to KABC’s Leticia Juarez, a portion of State Route 178 buckled in Trona after the earthquake on Friday evening.

By 8:58 p.m., 13 aftershocks were recorded after the initial quake.

Stay with News Channel 3 for the latest updates on this developing story.