Ridgecrest Earthquake Epicenter

Earthquake scientists quickly pinpointed the epicenter of the first earthquake in the sequence in the high desert about 150 miles north of Los Angeles, within a remote United States Navy Base at China Lake, adjacent to the town of Ridgecrest. 

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Damage from the July 4^th event, estimated at magnitude 6.4, was mostly restricted to Ridgecrest, China Lake, and nearby Trona. 

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Seismic Network

The Ridgecrest earthquakes and their aftershocks were recorded by a conventional seismic network that had been expanded over the previous decade as part of the development of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning system. The California Integrated Seismic Network comprises thousands of sophisticated seismometers throughout California that transmit data in real-time to a central hub, where they are processed and analyzed by both real-time systems and teams of experts. 

Rich Data Set

Scientists continue to analyze the rich data set to address key questions in earthquake science, including what factors control the timing and location of aftershocks, and how the ground shakes close to large earthquakes. 

Investigations of the Ridgecrest Sequence have exploited data from seismic networks, geodetic networks, satellites and more. Complementing conventional seismic networks that have grown in sophistication, the scientific community also embraces additional technologies that allow earthquake shaking to be recorded in far greater detail than previously possible. One such technology was borrowed from the oil patch: simple “nodal” seismometers that have been used for many years to acquire seismic data for industry, primarily oil and gas exploration. These simple instruments have been used increasingly in recent years for scientific investigations of earthquakes and faults.

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A nodal seismometer can be installed quickly, literally stuck into the ground, where conventional seismometers are much more expensive, and can take hours to install. Earthquake scientists increasingly use dense deployments of nodals to record earthquakes which creates far more sampling than is possible with conventional networks. Data from nodal deployments were used, for example, to better understand the structure of sub-surface fault zones in the Ridgecrest area. 

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Discoveries Continue

Since its earliest days as a modern scientific field, advancements in earthquake science have long been spurred by significant earthquakes. Data recorded from earthquakes allow scientists to explore earthquakes and their effects in ever-greater detail. 

Five years after the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes rocked the California high desert, the scientific community continues to collect and analyze an increasing range of data streams to improve our understanding of earthquakes and the hazard they pose.