Overnight Quakes 'A Wake-Up Call' For California

PASADENA, CA — A dozen small earthquakes shook the Ridgecrest overnight, and that's actually a slowdown in the furious pace of aftershocks that followed Friday's magnitude 7.1 temblor.

Each of the quakes was at least 3 in magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The overnight quakes were followed by a larger 3.8 magnitude quake Monday morning.

Rattled residents across California are counting down the days without any more major quakes because the chances of a major aftershock diminish as the days go by.

The USGS estimated a 3% chance of another earthquake of magnitude 7 or greater striking the region within the next week. The chance of a quake of magnitude 6 or higher was estimated at 27%, and it is most likely that as many as two such quakes will occur. The chance of a magnitude 5 or higher quake is 96%, with as many as eight likely to occur, the USGS said.

Seismologists say they anticipate between 240 and 410 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher.
"Prepare yourself for the next week to two weeks, this isn't going to stop in the near future," Ridgecrest Police Chief Jed McLaughlin told residents late Friday night.

“It is a wake-up call for the rest of the state and other parts of the nation, frankly,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters at a press conference while touring the damage.

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Newsom said the state is currently working on building an early alert system that would give utilities time to shut down.

Many residents living near the epicenter spent the weekend sleeping outdoors to avoid being trapped inside during a major quake. Still, many others put off efforts to repair the damage due to the near constant threat of aftershocks.

The first series of overnight quakes struck between 9 and 36 miles from Ridgecrest in Kern County from 11:18 p.m. Sunday and 1:19 a.m. Monday, according to computer-generated USGS reports. That string of quakes initially included seven, but two of those computer-generated quake reports were rescinded Monday morning after being reviewed by a seismologist, the USGS reported.

The strongest -- magnitude 3.7 -- was at 1:20 Monday morning. The shallowest one, at 11:18 p.m. Sunday, was almost right at the surface while the deepest, at 18 minutes past midnight Monday, was at 14.9 miles.

Then, beginning at 2:57 a.m., eight more similar temblors were reported, ranging from magnitude-3.0 to 3.6. and ranging in depth from .6 of a mile to 4.9 miles. The last of that second series occurred at 9:22 a.m.

The temblors were all aftershocks to Friday's 7.1 earthquake.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.