An earthquake rattled a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on Thursday morning, making hanging lamps sway and photo frames on wall shake. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The 6.4 magnitude quake measured struck near in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, California.
The United State Geological Survey initially said it measured at a 6.6 magnitude.
Local emergency agencies also took to social media to ask people to only call 911 for emergencies.
“We are very much aware of the significant earthquake that just occurred in Southern California. Please DO NOT call 9-1-1 unless there are injuries or other dangerous conditions. Don’t call for questions please,” the LAPD said in a statement published on Twitter.
Ashleigh Chandler, a helicopter rescue EMT at Fort Irwin, California, said the quake happened as she was getting ready for a July 4th party.
“I was just in the living room getting everything ready, we start to feel the shaking, so then I look up and then the wine bottles start rattling and I thought, ‘They’re going to fall.’
“My sister was in the house and my dog, so we just got everyone outside and then it ended. It was like 15, 20 seconds, maybe. It was pretty good shaking, so I’m out of breath.”
“Everyone’s OK.”
People from Las Vegas to the Pacific Coast reported feeling a rolling motion and took to social media to report it, including several Hollywood figures such as Ava DuVernary and Trevor Noah.
“Been living in Los Angeles all my life. That was the longest earthquake I’ve ever experienced. Not jerky. Smooth and rolling. But it was loooong. It was so long I thought for the first time ever ‘Is this the big one?'” DuVernay tweeted. “Damn. Respect Mother Nature. She’s the boss.”
Added Noah on Twitter, “That earthquake was not fun…” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also commented on the strength of the quake: “6.6 is strong. We felt a lil’ movement here in the valley, but all good. Prayers to those in D valley, Bakersfield, S Valley, Kern etc. Be safe, stay prepared. #mothernature”
“I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 7+ years and that’s the first time an earthquake actually made me quake,” wrote film producer Matt Dentler.
NBC News’ Lester Holt was on the scene in Santa Monica, where he described how the earthquake felt in a TV report. “I was sitting in my living room and felt the shaking,” he said. “Now, as a New Yorker, there was a moment of processing, ‘Is there a subway beneath me?’ Because there are buildings that shake a little bit because of a subway. But I quickly processed that out and realized what was happening, got up away from near the glass door where I was sitting, got up and called out to my family and the craziest thing about this one is it kept rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling.”
Holt continued: “It felt like it lasted a good minute. I didn’t have my phone in my hand at the time but I had time to find my son and get my phone and it was still rolling. I tried to get video of the dining room light swing a little bit … but nothing fell. There was no sense of damage. It was just when they go on that long — and I’ve been through a number of earthquakes — you never know if they’re about to rapidly intensify. Sometimes they’ll hit you with a sharp jolt … This one continued to roll.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter
