Most Of Trona Still Without Water Tuesday Following Quakes

TRONA (CBSLA) – Most of the small San Bernardino County town of Trona remained without water Tuesday as officials work to recover from last week's two massive earthquakes.

Trona has been reeling since being hit by two earthquakes in the span of 48 hours. A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck on the morning of July 4th, followed by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on the night of July 5th.  They were the two largest earthquakes to hit Southern California since 1999.

The quakes left a majority of the town without water or natural gas service over the weekend. Pacific Gas & Electric restored gas service Monday afternoon, but water services remains out.

"We have no running water right now, we're waiting for them to fix the pipes so we can use our water," one man told CBS2 Monday.

The National Guard has been deployed to Trona to hand out cases of water to residents and pets.

"Probably 80 percent of the town doesn't have any running water," another man said.

Bottled water and food is being handed out at Trona High School. On Tuesday morning, portable showers were set up at the school. Bulk water was delivered to the school as well so that those with livestock could get water for their animals.

The Trona Library will serve as a cooling center through Thursday, with a portable restroom outside the library.

Shuttles are also available to transport Trona residents from the high school to the Kerr McGee Center in the nearby town of Ridgecrest, where a Red Cross shelter has been set up.

On Monday, President Donald Trump approved a federal emergency declaration for the earthquakes, which authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide disaster relief in San Bernardino and Kern counties.

For the latest updates, San Bernardino Trona has established an earthquake recovery page here.