Looking up the canyon from the West Fork San Gabriel River Bridge (53-2244). Taken in 2016.
Looking toward South Mount Hawkins in the West Fork San Gabriel Canyon from State 39. This road was planned to be improved but landslides prevented this work from being completed. In the case of this area, almost all of the low lying areas not covered in snow are landslides in one form or another. Even Crystal Lake, where this roadway is headed, exists because of landslides.
As an addition to the “High Points” on the Highways pages, I have added a new page which summarizes all the major passes in Southern California. Postmiles, or mileposts, have also been added as well to the list. If you see any missing or find some errors in the data, let me know.
Shakemap from USGS showing the extent of shaking and major fault lines
On January 21, 2020, just a few days after the 26th anniversary of the Mw 6.7 Northridge Earthquake, we had another small jolt strike the San Fernando Valley. This one, while small, was felt over a wide area. If you are among the many that did feel it, the USGS wants to hear from you! These “Did You Feel It?” reports help them to understand earthquakes further.
Finally posting the photos from my August 22, 2019 Ridgecrest trip. Part 1, which covers the fault rupture, is finally up. Part 2, which will cover the problems in Poison Canyon and Trona, are coming soon!
Seismic activity map of the Ridgecrest / Searles Lake area as of 12:40 pm July 4, 2019.
At 10:33 am this morning, July 4, 2019, there was a Mw 6.4 earthquake centered a few miles northeast of Ridgecrest, California. The focus of the earthquake was mid-range in depth, about 10.7 km deep. So far, there have been numerous aftershocks ranging up to M 4.7 in size at the time of this writing. The earthquake is the largest to strike southern California in some time. The area to the northwest of the epicenter has been subject to earthquake swarms in the past as well, though usually only up to the M 5.0 range in size.
Due to the size of the earthquake, I would expect there to be a fair amount of damage to buildings in the Searles Lake, Trona, Pioneer Point, Ridgecrest, and Inyokern areas. If you live in any of these areas, let the USGS know about what happened. Your information is greatly appreciated and will help them better understand the effects of earthquakes.