Emergency services are dealing with a number of fires in Southern California after the region was hit by its worst earthquake in 20 years.

The 6.4-magnitude quake struck just after 10.30am local time (6.30pm UK time) on Thursday near the town of Ridgecrest, about 150 miles (241km) northeast of Los Angeles.

It was 5.4 miles (8.7km) deep and was been followed by more than 100 aftershocks.

Home shakes after quake in the US

Seismologist Dr Lucy Jones, from the California Institute of Technology's seismology lab, said the quake was the strongest in Southern California since a 7.1-magnitude quake in 1999.

She warned: "We will continue to have a lot of aftershocks."


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?” Damn. Respect Mother Nature. She’s the boss. — Ava DuVernay (@ava) 4 July 2019

The Kern County Fire Department said it was dealing with multiple injuries, two house fires, small brush fires and gas

leaks in Ridgecrest, which has a population of more than 27,600.

Kern County fire chief David Witt said: "We feel are going to have the upper hand on this.

Image: The force of the earthquake left a crack through this highway Pic: Karaleigh Roe

CCTV footage shows the moment the earthquake hit

"We don't know the exact number of injuries but so far they have been minor."

Police officials said that they had enough resources to meet the needs of the people following the earthquake, and added that although there were cracks found in the road, the overpasses and underpasses were in good shape.

Ridgecrest Regional Hospital and several apartment buildings were evacuated.

The town's mayor, Peggy Breedon, told CNN that objects were falling off buildings and hitting people, and that there were fires and broken gas lines in the town.

She said: "We are used to earthquakes but we're not used to [ones of] this significance.

"The city has asked residents to look after others, especially the elderly, which forms a large part of her city's population."

The #Ridgecrest earthquake is having a robust aftershock sequence. There have been 6 M4+ events and ~30 M3+ in the first 90 minutes. That means there will be plenty more aftershocks today. — Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) July 4, 2019

The earthquake was felt throughout Los Angeles - as far north as Fresno and as far east as Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was even felt in Mexico, where buildings were evacuated in Tijuana and Mexicali.

According to European quake agency EMSC, the area affected by the quake is inhabited by about 20 million people.

Image: Ridgecrest is a desert town in California

Cora Burke, a waitress at Midway Cafe in Ridgecrest, said: "It almost gave me a heart attack.

"It's just a rolling feeling inside the building, inside the cafe and all of a sudden everything started falling off the shelf, glasses, the refrigerator and everything in the small refrigerator fell over."

In San Bernardino, the quake broke water mains, downed power lines, cracked buildings and caused rock slides, officials told ABC.

President Donald Trump tweeted before Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, saying he was "fully briefed" on the earthquake.