Seismologist Not Surprised By Ridgecrest Earthquakes

A Caltech seismologist says he's not surprised by the sequence and magnitude of the earthquakes that have struck Southern California. Egill Hauksson says the area of Ridgecrest was previously known as the earthquake capital of the world. Last night, a magnitude seven-point-one earthquake struck near Ridgecrest, just a day after a magnitude six-point-four quake hit the region Thursday morning. So far, there are still no reports of deaths or serious injuries, even though the last night's quake was felt throughout much of Southern California. Hauksson noted that so far there have been 340 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater and a total of 34-thousand total aftershocks in the entire earthquake sequence. He added that gas pipe lines are breaking, things are catching on fire, roads are being damaged and power has been out in Ridgecrest and surrounding areas due to the large quakes.

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