5.4 Kern Area Quake Causes Little Damage

An earthquake estimated at magnitude 5.4 struck northeastern Kern County and southern Inyo County on Thursday but there were no reports of injuries or serious damage, authorities said.

The quake occurred at 3:39 p.m. and was centered 11 miles north of Ridgecrest, said Max Benavidez, spokesman for Caltech in Pasadena.

The temblor was felt sharply in the southern San Joaquin Valley, and some people said they felt it as far north as the Fresno-Clovis area of Central California, nearly 200 miles northwest of Ridgecrest.

It shook an area along U.S. Highway 395 near the long-dormant Coso volcanic range but did little damage in the nearby hamlets of Pearsonville and Little Lake.

Caltech reported numerous aftershocks in the first five hours after the quake, including seven over magnitude 3.0. Two were 3.7.

Ridgecrest is about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. It is below the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada along the northwestern border of the Mojave Desert.

“It was quite strong,” said Capt. Richard Davis of the Kern County Fire Department. “We felt the initial shock and two aftershocks.”

At local grocery stores, the effects were minimal.

“It was quick up and down motion. It lasted about five seconds,” said Mark Russell, assistant manager at Albertson’s in Ridgecrest. “We had a few items fall.”

“It was just a nice little shock, a couple bottles of shampoo fell off the shelf but it was minimal,” said Carl White, an assistant manager at Vons. “Nobody panicked. It’s minor compared to other earthquakes we’ve had in the past.”

Numerous Kern County residents called law enforcement agencies and the media, but there were no reports of damage in the valley.

“There was a big rumble and the whole house just shook,” said Gracie Strickland, who lives in the mountain community of Kernville, northeast of Bakersfield and about 30 miles west of the quake area.

At the Pearsonville Shell station, clerks said the temblor shook a few things off the shelves but caused no breakage in their convenience store.

“It was more a sway than a shake,” said Sheila Gillespie, as a fellow employee swept up a few cartons.

The Coso volcanoes, the scene of frequent seismic activity in recent years, have not erupted for several thousand years, although because of infrequent rainfall the cones look quite fresh. They appear as though they erupted only a short time ago.

Kern Co. Quake

A quake centered 11 miles north of Ridgecrest shook Kern County on Thursday afternoon.