Magnitude 4.9 aftershock of California quakes felt widely

The Associated Press

5 years ago

FILE - This July 6, 2019 photo shows crack in a gas station's driveway in the aftermath of an e ... — FILE – This July 6, 2019 photo shows crack in a gas station’s driveway in the aftermath of an earthquake in Trona, Calif. Officials say Thursday, July 11, 2019, that two Southern California desert communities, Ridgecrest and Trona, struck by last week’s powerful earthquakes may have sustained as little damage as they did because they have no tall buildings and many homes are fairly new and built to strict earthquake standards. Nearby Trona, with a population of about 2,000, was harder hit, and commissioners noted many of its buildings are older. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

FILE – In this July 5, 2019 file photo, a child walks by one of the mobile homes knocked off its foundation by an earthquake in Ridgecrest, Calif. Officials say that two Southern California desert communities struck by last week’s powerful earthquakes may have sustained as little damage as they did because they have no tall buildings and many homes are fairly new and built to strict earthquake standards. California’s Seismic Safety Commission Chairman Michael Gardner said during a commission meeting Thursday, July 11, 2019 that the tallest building is the 3-story hospital in Ridgecrest. (James Quigg/The Daily Press via AP, File)

RIDGECREST, Calif. — A magnitude 4.9 aftershock of last week’s Southern California earthquakes has been felt widely in the region.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake occurred at 6:11 a.m. Friday and was centered about 5 miles northeast of the Mojave Desert city of Ridgecrest.

The quake was felt very lightly in the Los Angeles area.

There have been thousands of aftershocks of the magnitude 6.4 earthquake on July 4 and the 7.1 quake that occurred the next day.

The aftershocks have been dying off but are expected to continue for some time.

Seismologist Lucy Jones tweets that the 4.9 quake is normal and is having its own aftershocks.

The USGS says the probability of a 7.1 or larger quake has fallen to less than 1%.