Earthquake centered near Wasco
Tulare Fire Chief Willard Epps said he was working on his computer when he felt the quake that centered near Wasco Tuesday afternoon.
“It gave me a pretty good jolt,” Epps said. “We felt it.”
There were no reports of major damage in north Kern County and Tulare County.
According to the US Geological Survey, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck at 4:02 p.m. Tuesday. About 10 minutes later, a 2.6 aftershock was felt.
“That’s very common,” said USGS Western States Communications Chief Justin Pressfield. “This is consistent with what we have experienced.”
The quake and the aftershock were centered near Wasco, just south of Tulare County. The initial earthquake was reported four miles south-southwest of Wasco and 54 miles south of Visalia. The aftershock was centered four miles south of Wasco.
The Tuesday quake and aftershock occurred less than a week after another quake was felt in the Valley on Friday.
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Pressfield said USGS hasn’t spotted any major activity uptake in the area.
“We haven’t detected anything in our website,” he said.
Wasco Fire Department Public Information Officer James Dowell said there was no damage reported in the Kern County city. Wasco fire received calls for alarms sounding after the jolts, Dowell said.
Tulare County law enforcement and fire personnel reported similar activity.
Tulare County Sheriff’s Department PIO Teresa Douglass said the law enforcement agency didn’t receive emergency calls requesting service or reporting damage.
Tulare County Fire Capt. David Cornett said there was no report of property damage.
After the initial quake, Cornett said firefighters working at the county stations reported no structural damage. The equipment was also safe, Cornett said.
Checking the stations and equipment for damage after an earthquake is protocol, Cornett said. The safety check was concluded about an hour after the quake.
In Tulare, Epps said the fire department didn’t get calls for damage either. But the firefighters were keeping an eye out.
“We are watching the news on television for any kind of damage around the Valley,” he said. “But so far, no call for damage.”
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Timeline
Update: 4:50 p.m. Tuesday: Wasco Fire Department PIO James Dowell said there were no reports of major damage. Dowell said Wasco firefighters were responding to alarms sounding because of the jolt.
Tulare County Fire Department Capt. David Cornett said there were no calls for assistance related to the quake. He said firefighters working at the county’s fire stations reported no damage to the stations’ structure or the equipment.
Tulare County Sheriff’s also reported no calls reporting damage.
Tulare City Fire Chief Willard Epps said he felt the earthquake. There were no call for service for Tulare firefighters.
Update 4:20 p.m. Tuesday: A 4.9 magnitude earthquake centered near Wasco in Kern County rattled the Central Valley around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The earthquake could be felt as far as Visalia. There have been no reports of damage in Tulare County.
This is a developing story. Check in later for more details.
Tuesday’s earthquake comes on the heels of a trembler on Feb. 16 centered near Big Pine.