July 6 (AZINS) A 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California on Friday night, the second temblor to hit near Ridgecrest -- about 150 miles from Los Angeles -- in less than 48 hours. 

Some building damage was reported from several parts of the region. The San Bernadino County Fire Department reported that the quake had caused some damage to buildings while CNN reported that leaks in gas pipes triggered fire in some parts. Footage showed firemen trying to douse the blaze that caught some houses in the area following the earthquake. 

Gas leaks, fire, rockslides 

Multiple fires and injuries have been reported in Ridgecrest, Kern County spokeswoman Megan Person said. The county has activated an emergency operations centre, the fire department tweeted.

Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden told Reuters by telephone: "We’ve got fires, we've got gas leaks, we've got injuries, we've got people without power, We’re dealing with it as best we can."

"Intel is still being gathered. Responding to calls for service and ordering additional resources. Kern County is activating the Emergency Operations Center. Please stay safe and call 911 in case of emergency. Please leave phone lines open whenever possible," it said. 

A road passing through the Kern River Canyon was closed due to rock slides, the fire department said, advising people to avoid the area.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department said it has received multiple reports of damage from northwest communities in the county. "Homes shifted, foundation cracks, retaining walls down. One injury (minor) with firefighters treating patient. No unmet needs currently," the department said. 

It later said early reports show damage is more significant than Thursday's quake.

"Numerous gas leaks have been detected in the Trona and Argus areas. Firefighters have secured leaks where possible and evacuated residents from homes with leaks that cannot be secured. #SBCountyOES, #CERT, #ECS teams activated," it tweeted. 

In Los Angeles, Friday's earthquake felt stronger than the one a day earlier with some residents saying that they felt their houses shaking for 20 to 25 seconds, CNN reported. 

The city's fire department said there were reports of wires down and localized power outages in some parts of the city. 

It said that it concluded the "systematic survey" of the city by ground and air and found no major infrastructure damage.

"The LAFD has concluded the systematic survey of the City of Los Angeles by ground and air, and is pleased to report that no major infrastructure damage was noted by our personnel in the City of Los Angeles, and that there has been no loss of life or serious injury that we can directly attribute to the widely felt 8:19 PM earthquake," it said in a statement. 

With our survey complete, the LAFD has concluded Earthquake Emergency Mode and has resumed normal operations, the LAFD added. 

While there were several aftershocks Thursday's earthquake of 6.4 magnitude quake near the city of Ridgecrest in southern California, Friday's quake is the strongest earthquake was the magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale, US Geological Survey said. 

The quake hit the town of Ridgecrest on the edge of Death Valley National Park 202 km (125 miles) northeast of Los Angeles. The European quake agency EMSC the epicentre of the earthquake was 16 km west of Searles Valley and 202 km north of Los Angeles. 

The quake occurred at 8:19 pm local time and depth recorded was 10 km. The agency recorded several aftershocks, the strongest being 4.7, just 3 minutes after the first one. 

Another massive aftershock of magnitude 5.5 was recorded at 8:47 pm, USGS said. This is the biggest earthquake in California after 1992 when the region witnessed a 7.3 quake on June 28. 

Just a few hours before this early on Friday, a strong aftershock shook Southern California as residents were still assessing the damage from the strongest earthquake in the region in 25 years on July 4, which was felt by more than 20 million people. The 5.4 magnitude aftershock struck the same desert region as Thursday's earthquake. Its epicentre was about 11 miles (18 km) west of Searles Valley at 4:07 am, the USGS said. 

The last large earthquake to rock Southern California was 1994 when it was hit by the 6.6-magnitude earthquake in 1994. That quake, which was centred in a heavily populated area of Los Angeles, killed 57 people and caused billions of dollars of damage.