Since July 4, there have been over 80,000 recorded earthquakes in Ridgecrest, according to the L.A Times. According to experts, the two major earthquakes that reverberated through the state earlier this month are likely to blame.
Zachary Ross, a Caltech assistant professor of geophysics provided the calculation, and the U.S Geological Survey believes that there could be a chance for a magnitude 7 or above resulting from the Ridgecrest quakes. However, the chance is 1 in 300. Furthermore, he says that this type of surge in earthquakes is quite normal when we have a lot of hearing flowing through the earth.
Just in the past week or so, there have been over 340 temblors that contained a magnitude higher than 2.5. And on Thursday of last week, the area encountered a 4.7 just days after a 4.2 hit on Monday. Egill Hauksson, a Caltech seismologist has stated that while these aftershocks may be quite intense, they will fade quickly.
What has officials worried is that the quakes have been finding their way close to the two major faults, one of which was responsible for a 7.9 in 1872- the largest on California’s record. Aftershocks have also gotten eerily close to the Garlock fault which is capable of causing a magnitude 8 or higher.
To put things into perspective, the following is the past 30 years worth of earthquakes for California.