Here's What Back-To-Back 7.1 And 6.4 Magnitude Earthquakes Look Like: The Ridgecrest Quakes In Photos

UPDATED: July 7, 8:25 a.m.

Residents of Ridgecrest and other nearby towns in the Mojave Desert are picking up the pieces the morning after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the area. The July 5th earthquake was the second large earthquake to hit the area in two days — and the largest in Southern California in 20 years.

On the morning of July 4th, a 6.4 earthquake, now determined to be a foreshock to Friday night's larger quake, hit the area. The shallow quake occured in the Little Lake fault zone, one of two complex fault zones in the Indian Wells Valley area. The other is the Airport Lake Fault Zone.
Seismologists originally thought the little Lake Fault was approximately 10 miles long but Dr. Lucy Jones said Friday that after the two temblors of the past couple days, the fault seems to be growing and is now between 20 and 30 miles long, meaning it can produce more powerful earthquakes than previously thought.

The good news? Jones says the rate of aftershocks is slowing down. There have been thousands of aftershocks, some of them magnitude 5.0 or higher, in the last few days.

Here are some of the images from the aftermath:

FIRES

Firefighters in Ridgecrest work to put out a house fire and a fire at a mobile home park, early on Saturday, July 6, 2019.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Terry Brantley looks at his neighbor's home after it burnt down in an electrical fire following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Ridgecrest, California, on July 6, 2019. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

DAMAGE

An employee carries items on Saturday for a customer, navigating broken bottles scattered on the floor. The store has remained opened since Friday night's quake in order to serve the community.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Tammy Sears cleans up her kitchen after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake dumped food items on the floor of her mobile home in Ridgecrest. She and her husband had already spent the day cleaning up from the 6.4 quake on July 4th when the larger quake hit. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Terry Brantley walks through his kitchen in Ridgecrest. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Ridgecrest residents Junie (left) and Tina Garnenez look at their television and other belongings toppled by the quake. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A cinderblock wall was partially destroyed in Ridgecrest, California. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Early Saturday morning, workers repair a hole that opened in a road. Authorities are advising caution for anyone driving in the areas near Ridgecrest, which is about 150 miles north of Los Angeles.

(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Shattered liquor bottles cover the floor near the cash register of a Ridgecrest store.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Food that fell from the shelves litters the floor of an aisle at a Walmart following Friday's 7.1 magnitude earthquake.

(Chad Mayes/AP)

Fresh visible damage on Highway 178 between the towns of Ridgecrest and Trona in the Mojave Desert late Friday. (Courtesy of Nikki Carroll)

JULY 4TH QUAKE

Before it became clear that the 6.4 magnitude quake on the 4th of July was a foreshock to an even bigger temblor, authorities had started repair work on the roads. A vehicle drives over a patched up crack on the road along Hwy 178 north of Ridgecrest on the road to Trona.

. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

A damaged home is seen after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit in Ridgecrest, California, on July 4, 2019.

(FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

A local resident inspects a fissure in the earth after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the area on July 4, 2019 near Ridgecrest, California.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A vehicle drives over cracks on Highway 178 north of Ridgecrest some 16 miles south of Trona on July 4, 2019.

(FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

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