New before and after pictures from the epicentre of the July 5 earthquake in California's Mojave Desert show the raw power of the geological event.
The 7.1-magnitude quake left a crack in the earth that's visible from space.
Planet Labs, a privately-owned U.S.-based Earth imaging company, shared satellite images of an area north of Ridgecrest, Cali. The rupture left in the surface where the quake hit is easily seen.
The Planet Labs images also show a new darker line to the left of the epicentre, which its CEO Will Marshall said on Twitter was evidence of dewatering. That's when water and sediment spurt up from the ground because of shaking caused by an earthquake.
Ridgecrest Earthquake before (4th July) & after (6th July) images from Doves, clearly showing surface rupture. Thx @rsimmon @PlanetLabs @USGS RT @USGSBigQuakes Prelim M7.1 Earthquake 35.767, -117.605 Jul-06 03:19 UTC, updates https://t.co/waWvmvQZ88 pic.twitter.com/cUNxdMazum
— Will Marshall (@Will4Planet) July 7, 2019
That 7.1-magnitude event on July 5 followed a 6.4-magnitude foreshock just a day before. They were Southern California’s biggest earthquakes in 20 years.
They're not isolated events.
Seismologists have recorded more than 8,000 earthquakes in California and Nevada in the last week.
There have been so many, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shared an animated map tracking activity from July 4 to July 8.
This video shows earthquake events a few hours before the M6.4 on July 4th, 2019 to present (as of above noon on July 8th, 2019). #earthquake #usgs #californiaearthquake pic.twitter.com/c5JEDynLQ4
— USGS (@USGS) July 8, 2019
The USGS said the aftershocks will likely taper off, and the probability of another big quake will decrease.
