A pair of large earthquakes hit Southern California over the course of two days.
On Thursday, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the area. The next day, a 7.1 earthquake rocked Southern California on Friday night. Multiple fires broke out after it struck 11 miles northeast of the city of Ridgecrest.
Here’s what else you need to know about these earthquakes:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is at Mather Airport right now and will be headed to assess damage from the earthquakes and visit communities near Ridgecrest, the Governor’s Office announced in a tweet.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom requested a presidential emergency declaration for immediate federal assistance on Saturday to support the communities in the state impacted by the earthquakes.
Read Newsom’s letter to the President here.
According to data from the earthquakes, the probability for another magnitude 7 quake within the next week is 3%, Caltech Seismologist Doctor Egill Hauksson said.
Yesterday the probability was 6% so it has decreased, Hauksson said during a press conference Saturday.
There is a 27% chance for a magnitude 6 within the next week, according to Hauksson.
The sequence that generated the 7.1 earthquake is expected to generate around 30,000 quakes with a magnitude 1 and greater, Hauksson said.
Caltech is loading data onto the Caltech super computers and plans to use AI and machine learning to get information out of the data streams, Hauksson said.
Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said “we did last night have some bad people come into this community and try to take things away from some of our business owners.”
Ridgecrest Police Chief Jed McLaughlin also mentioned there were a couple of incidents of theft.
Sage Mart, a local convenience store, was broken into and a “very expensive” piece of equipment was stolen, McLaughlin said. A residence was also broken into.
Mimi Teller with the Red Cross spoke at the news conference about the Ridgecrest earthquake.
Teller said a shelter opened following the earthquake on Thursday and it will stay open as long as it is needed.
She said as of this morning they have 163 people staying there.
Kern County Battalion Chief Dionisio Mitchell said his team is taking in their normal amount of calls for a hazardous situation.
At a news conference moments ago, he said there are no major structural reports of any damage, but a couple of mobile homes were knocked off their foundation a little bit.
Mitchell says they are also responding to gas leaks.
California’s Ridgecrest Police Chief Jed McLaughlin said there have been no causalities from the earthquake.
The chief added that the structures have remained upright although some have sustained major damage.
“They’re still standing, so that’s been amazing,” McLaughlin said.
There have been more than 4,700 earthquakes since Thursday’s 6.4-magnitude event, according to John Bellini, a geophysicist with the USGS.
“They are coming in every 30 second, every minute,” he said.
Since Friday night’s 7.1-magnitude quake, there have been three quakes with magnitudes of 5 or greater. Those three all occurred within the first hour after the 7.1 quake; one was a 5.5 magnitude and there were two 5.4 quakes.
Officials in Ridgecrest, California, will hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. ET (that’s 10:30 a.m. PT) to give an update on last night’s earthquake.
If you’re just catching up on the news, here’s what we know so far about the Friday night quake:
There have been more than 2,300 earthquakes since the 6.4-magnitude quake that rattled Southern California on Thursday.
There were around 1,500 quakes in the area between the Thursday earthquake — which we now know was a foreshock — and the 7.1-magnitude quake last night, according to USGS.
Of the 2,300 quakes since the Fourth of July, 300 had magnitudes of 3 or more, which means they were strong enough to be felt. And 50 of them have been had magnitudes of 4 or more. Quakes with that strength have enough power to cause damage.
Kern County Fire Chief David Witt said there are no known fatalities from the earthquake. And while officials believe there is damage, they’re not sure how bad it is yet.
Witt said everybody wants information quickly, but “it’s hard to gather intel in darkness.”
Fire officials are inspecting buildings and the Army Corps is doing a detailed inspection of the dam, he said.
Witt said all of the fire stations are up and running and everybody has power. They are prepared to handle any vegetation or structure fires in Kern County, Witt said.
Experts have been comparing last night’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake to the 6.4-magnitude quake that hit on Thursday. (Technically, the Thursday quake was a foreshock leading up to Friday’s).
The Friday quake has been described as both five times bigger and 11 times stronger than the Independence Day earthquake.
That’s not a typo — here’s how both those figures are possible:
But the strength — not the size — is the more important figure. The energy released in a quake is what causes damage. Or, as the USGS puts it: “It is really the energy or strength that knocks down buildings.”
There’s a 27% chance that there will be another earthquake with a magnitude of 6 or more within the next week, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The possibility that another 7-magnitude quake will strike is 3%. Friday’s earthquake measured 7.1 and Thursday’s was a 6.4.
On their website, the USGS broke down the possibility of more aftershocks in the next week (until July 13). Here’s the forecast:
Remember: These probabilities will continue to decrease as time goes on.
CNN’s Sara Sidner is in Ridgecrest, California, close to where last night’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake was centered.
She said several residents took their mattresses outside and slept in their driveways in case more quakes struck overnight.
Sidner said the people she’s spoken to are not physically hurt — but they are scared.
“When you lose all ability and sense of — sort of your own control of your surroundings, it is scary. When the Earth is literally moving underneath you and things are falling off the walls and you don’t know how much longer it’s going to go on, it feels like eternity as one of these earthquakes roll through.”
Watch for Sidner more:
Since Friday night’s quake, there has been an average of one aftershock per minute since in the southern part of California, according to the United States Geological Survey website.
After an earthquake as powerful as the one that hit Friday, residents can expect an aftershock reaching up to a magnitude of 6.0, officials said Saturday, and should even be prepared for a scarier shake.
With that in mind, Ridgecrest Police Chief Jed McLaughlin offered up some advice:
The chief warned residents to stay prepared and load up on supplies while stores are still open, “just in case that we have something bigger than we had today.”
He said residents should remain vigilant for the next two weeks.
“This isn’t going to stop in the near future,” he said. “The aftershocks, they haven’t slowed down since the 7.1 (magnitude earthquake). For a period of time there was constant vibration.”
CalTech seismologist Lucy Jones said both Friday’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake and Thursday’s 6.4-magnitude temblor are part of an ongoing sequence.
That means the latest earthquake was the mainshock, while Thursday’s quake was a foreshock, according to Jones.
But the threat isn’t over: More earthquakes are possible. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has activated the state emergency operation center to its highest level.
Kern County Officials are expected to hold a news conference at 11:30 a.m. ET (that’s 8:30 a.m. PT this morning to give updates on last night’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake.
We’ll be covering the briefing live here.
If you’re just catching up on the news, here’s what we know so far about the Friday night earthquake:
Both last night’s earthquake and the one that hit on the Fourth of July are part of an ongoing sequence, CalTech seismologist Lucy Jones said.
Here’s how the two compare:
![CORRECTION / This picture shows a general view of damaged structures at the site of a strike in Bartalla in the northern Iraqi Nineveh province on July 29, 2026. US-Saudi strikes on Iraq on July 29 killed at least 20 members of a former paramilitary alliance that includes pro-Iran groups, the alliance said. The United States and Saudi Arabia said they had struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images) / Attention editors: AFP covers the war in the Middle East through its extensive regional network, including bureaus in Tehran, Jerusalem and several neighboring countries.Since the start of the conflict, journalists have been working under increasingly restrictive conditions. Authorities in several countries have limited reporters' movements, photo and live video coverage from sensitive locations. Some governments and armed groups have banned images of missile or drone strikes and other security-related sites. / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Ziad OBEID has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: corrects byline to [Zaid AL-OBEIDI] instead of [Ziad OBEID]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require."](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2287466969.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_270,w_480,c_fill)
