Shaking was felt in parts of Santa Barbara County from a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Thursday in the desert northeast of Ridgecrest.
The temblor was reported at 10:33 a.m., and centered about 7.5 miles southwest of Searles Valley in northwest San Bernardino County, and at a depth of about 6.6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The area is about 125 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Preliminary estimates placed the quake at maginitude 6.6, but it later was downgraded by the USGS.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in Santa Barbara County from the shaking, which was widely felt.
Two smaller temblors — measuring 2.5 and 4.0 on the Richter Scale — were reported in the Searles Valley area prior to the earthquake, according to the USGS, and there have been nearly 100 aftershocks measuring between 2.5 and 4.6.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department reported on Twitter that multiple buildings sustained minor cracks, and there were broken water main, power lines down and rock slides on some roads. No injuries or fires were reported.
The quake and aftershocks were centered in an area near the boundary of San Bernardino and Kern counties, and the Kern County Fire Department reported that evacuations were underway at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital.
The department also reported that its crews were working nearly two dozens incidents, ranging from medical assistance to structure fires, in and around the city of Ridgecrest.
As is customary after an earthquake, local fire departments moved their apparatus out of the stations as a precaution.
Thursday quake is believed to be the largest to hit Southern California since the 1999 Twenty-Nine Palms Earthquake, which measured 7.1 on the Richter scale, but caused limited damage and just a few injuries.
In 1994, the Northridge Earthquake, which measured 6.6 on the Richter scale, struck in a much more populated area of the San Fernando Valley. It killed 57 people, injured more than 8,700, and caused billions of dollars in damage.
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— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.