RIDGECREST, Calif — A magnitude 5.5 earthquake has jolted the region of California desert where a powerful quake last summer was followed by thousands of aftershocks. One seismologist says this is an aftershock of that July 2019 quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Wednesday's quake occurred at 6:32 p.m. and was centered 13.6 miles north of the small city of Ridgecrest.
A dispatcher with the Ridgecrest Police Department said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury.
The quake was felt as a bump and rolling motion in a high-rise building in downtown Las Vegas. Local television news broadcasts stopped as anchors reported seeing lights sway in their studios.
It also shook buildings in downtown Los Angeles.
A magnitude 7.1 quake on July 5, 2019, and a magnitude 6.4 foreshock the day before strongly shook the region.
Damage from those quakes occurred to facilities on the sprawling Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake as well as in the nearby communities of Trona and Ridgecrest.
Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist, tweeted that this happened in the very southern end of the 2019 Ridgecrest aftershock zone. She said these are common.