Big Bear City Jolted by 5.4 Aftershock

A magnitude 5.4 aftershock of the June 28 earthquake hit Big Bear City on Wednesday, causing three house fires, a major water main break and 15 to 20 injuries in the mountain resort community, authorities said.

Caltech and the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., put the epicenter of the latest jolt six miles east of Big Bear Lake. That is within a mile of the epicenter of the 6.5 Big Bear quake that followed the magnitude 7.4 Landers earthquake 20 miles to the east on June 28.

The strong aftershock was felt lightly in large parts of the Los Angeles area and as far away as San Diego.

San Bernardino sheriff’s spokesman Anthony Viola said that the 6:44 p.m. temblor, followed by other minor aftershocks, collapsed the foundations of at least two houses and that several other homes slid off their foundations.

All of the fires, which were quickly extinguished, and most of the other damage and injuries occurred in the Sugar Loaf area of Big Bear City, east of Big Bear Lake, Viola said.

Meanwhile, Joseph Shaw, a spokesman at Bear Valley Community Hospital, said 10 people with injuries--including fractures, cuts and chest pains--came on their own to the hospital, and paramedics were called out to help others. He said none of the injuries appeared to be life threatening.

Part of the Big Bear area also temporarily lost electricity as a result of Wednesday evening’s quake, according to Dennis West, assistant supervisor at the San Bernardino County Communications Center, who said that several power lines went down.

Some gas leaks were also reported.

“We had about six shakes in an hour and a half,” said John Foley, a Big Bear resident who was reached at his home. “It set house alarms off all over the place, and a lot of the furniture we had put back up after the big quake fell down again. I’m looking over Big Bear City now, and I can see a lot of people standing around looking at their homes for new damage.”

Over the last few days, two magnitude 5.4 aftershocks and at least four in the magnitude 4 range have shaken the areas hit by the Landers and Big Bear main shocks. Wednesday’s temblor was the strongest aftershock directly associated with the Big Bear main shock.

Egill Hauksson, a Caltech seismologist, said the high number of aftershocks is normal for temblors the size of the June 28 earthquakes. He said they may continue, with diminished frequency, for months.

Meanwhile, two small unrelated earthquakes were felt in the Catalina Channel between the mainland and Santa Catalina Island. A magnitude 3.3 shaker struck at 4:38 a.m. and a 3.1 temblor hit at 10:47 a.m.