Magnitude-3.4 Quake Rattles Searles Valley

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RIDGECREST (CBSLA) – A magnitude-3.4 earthquake occurred in the Searles Valley in northwestern San Bernardino County early Friday morning.

A magnitude-3.4 earthquake occurred in the Searles Valley area of California on Nov. 5, 2021. (U.S. Geological Survey)

The earthquake occurred at 5:03 a.m. in the Searles Valley area of the Mojave Desert, about 11 miles northeast of the Kern County city of Ridgecrest, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It occurred at a depth of 6.7 miles.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

A pair of massive earthquakes struck the Ridgecrest and Searles Valley in the Mohave Desert on consecutive days in July of 2019.

On the morning of July 4, 2019, the region was hit by a magnitude 6.4 quake, the largest to hit Southern California in 20 years. However, that turned out to only be a foreshock to the main shock, the magnitude 7.1 earthquake which struck on the night of July 5, ten times larger than the 6.4 quake.