Photos: How the Magnitude-7.1 Earthquake Changed the Earth's Surface

A powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake damaged buildings and caused shaking throughout Southern California. It also displaced the Earth surface in part of the Mojave Desert roughly 160 miles north of Los Angeles.

13 photos
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AFP/Getty Images
Resident Steve Ault, wearing a shirt that reads "Ridgecrest Has Its Faults," sits on a surface rupture caused by yesterday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake, near the epicenter along California State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California. Local residents and out of town visitors flocked to the spot to see the earthquake's geologic effects on the earth's surface.
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USGS
USGS Seismologists Alan Yong and Elizabeth Cohcran work near the main rupture between Trona and Ridgecrest, California.
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Getty Images
Ridgecrest residents take photos at a recent fault rupture following two large earthquakes in the area on July 7, 2019 near Ridgecrest, California. A 6.4 magnitude 'foreshock' on July 4 was followed by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake the next day. The 7.1 magnitude temblor was the largest in Southern California in twenty years. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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NBC 5 News
Railroad tracks were offset right-laterally by about 3 fee southeast of Highway 178 during the Friday July 5, 2019 magnitude-7.1 earthquake near Ridgecrest, California.
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ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Seismologist Dr. Steven Wesnousky is pictured at the surface ruptures and offsets seen on the desert areas impacted by the July 5, 2019, magnitude 7.1 earthquake, near the epicenter along California State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California, on June 6, 2019.
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AFP/Getty Images
People drive over a surface rupture on the desert areas impacted by the magnitude 7.1 earthquake, near the epicenter along California State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California.
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AFP/Getty Images
Surface ruptures and offsets caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake are seen as the sun sets along State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California.
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EFE / Archivo
Surface ruptures and offsets caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake are seen as the sun sets along State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California. Local residents and out of town visitors flocked to the spot to see the earthquake's geologic effects on the earth's surface.
9/13
AFP/Getty Images
Resident Steve Latham surveys the effects of a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, along California State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California.
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AFP/Getty Images
Resident Steve Latham uses his leg to measure the amount of offset in the desert floor caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, along California State Route 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California. Local residents and out of town visitors flocked to the spot to see the earthquake's geologic effects on the earth's surface.
11/13
Getty Images
An onlooker stands near newly ruptured ground after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck in the area near Ridgecrest, California. The earthquake, which occurred July 5, was the second large earthquake to hit the area in two days and the largest in Southern California in 20 years.
12/13
WAVE
This image shows right-lateral slip across fractures on a hillside with shattered ground along the surface fault rupture near Ridgecrest, California.
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USGS
USGS scientists and partners review prepare to document surface faulting.
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