The Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence of 1995

The 1995 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence was a series of earthquakes that began on August 17th of 1995. The main or most signficant quake occured on September 20th. That shock or quake was magnitude ML 5.8. Over 2,500 aftershocks occured. This situation is eearily similar to another Sequence of Earthquakes that also happened in Ridgecrest but in 2019.

The Ridgecrest Area:

The area is part of the Eastern California Shear Zone. This zone “runs roughly parallel to the San Andreas Fault.” It is “a fault that ends or dissipates without a clear connection” according to Science Daily. And that is a big problem for earthquake experts. The town of Ridgecrest is located in the eastern part of the state and is east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The town is somewhat known for earthquake activity. It is home to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. This facility is a massive military base and one of the largest within the US Navy.

About the Ridgecrest 1995 Quake:

The Quake hit “at approximately 3:39 p.m. when a 5.4 magnitude quake struck approximately 11 miles north of Ridgecrest.” And “then on Sept. 20^th at around 4:28 p.m. another large quake shook the area measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale centered 10 miles north of Ridgecrest and at that time, was the largest recorded quake to hit the area since the 1994 Northridge quake.” The damage had been done. “At Least 4 small faults in the southern portion of the Airport Lake fault zone slipped in the course of the 2 main shocks and the larger aftershocks; about 1 centimeter of surficial triggered right-oblique slip was seen on a 3 kilometer long fault segment roughly 3 kilometers northwest of the epicenter area however,” Desert News: History of Earthquakes Near Ridgecrest.

The Significance of the 1995 Ridgecrest Earthquake:

The 1995 quake preceeded the 2019 earthquake sequence. Ridgecrest is a place of signficant quake activity and tremendous scientific interest to quake observers. Although the San Andreas fault is more well known and is in a more populated area, the ECSN [Eastern California Shear Zone] is, at times, more siesmically active. From a California Quake perspective the ECSN is a very important area to study. Since the 2019 event was so significant and powerful it is important that specialists learn everything they can about the area. Both the 1995 and 2019 events in Ridgecrest stand out as significant historical earthquakes in California and the west.

The 2019 Ridgecrest Quake killed one individual and knocked out power for thousands of individuals. The 2019 event was also registered as being more powerful.

Additional Sources of Information: Southern California Earthquake Data Center.

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