Earthquakes occurred north and northeast of the town of Ridgecrest, California, located in Kern County and west of Searles Valley (approximately 200 km [122 mi] north-northeast of Los Angeles) on July 4-5, 2019. They included three initial main shocks of Mw magnitudes 6.4, 5.4, and 7.1, and many perceptible aftershocks, mainly within the area of the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. Eleven months later, a Mw5.5 aftershock took place (the largest aftershock of the sequence) to the east of Ridgecrest. The first main shock (now deemed to be a foreshock) occurred on Thursday, July 4 at 10:33 a.m. PDT, approximately 18 km (11.2 mi) ENE of Ridgecrest, and 13 km (8.1 mi) WSW of Trona, on a previously unnoticed NE-SW trending fault where it intersects the NW-SE trending Little Lake Fault Zone. This quake was preceded by several smaller earthquakes, and was followed by more than 1,400 detected aftershocks. The M 5.4 and M 7.1 quakes struck on Friday, July 5 at 4:08 a.m. and 8:19 p.m. PDT approximately 10 km (6 miles) to the northwest. The latter, now considered the mainshock, was the most powerful earthquake to occur in the state in 20 years (after the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake).
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