East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Services

July 5, 2019 (Ridgecrest) -- A powerful 7.1 earthquake has struck 11 miles northeast of Ridgecrest tonight at 8:19 p.m., the same area rocked by a 6.4 earthquake yeserday morning. KCFD reports over a dozen small outdoor fires with larger vegetation fires burning north and east of the city. Kern County spokesperson Megan Person confirmed to CNN that fires and multiple injuries have occured. Structure damage is also reported.

Seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted, "There is a 1 in 20 chance of Friday night's magnitude 7.1 earthquake "being followed by somethign even bigger." Earthquake of magnitude 5 are likely and a magnitude 6 is quite possible, she said. 

An 8.5 quake in Chile was once a precursor to a 9.2, a seismic expert in a live press conference held by the Kern County Fire Department stated.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally reported the quake at 7.1, downgraded it to 6.9 and then upgraded it back to 7.1. That's 11 times stronger than the earlier 6.4 quake since the Richter scale is logorhythmic.

Southern California Edison reports some 26,000 customers are without power due to the quake.

Los Angeles Fire Dept. reports downed powerlines in L.A. 

View video of the KTLA newscasters ducking for cover when the quake hit:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1147353969674448896.

In San Bernadino County, the county fire department reports som homes have shifted off their foundations, according to KTLA.

Highway 178 is closed due to a rockslide in Kern County.