A Southern California man who crashed his truck into a steep ravine recalls the terrifying ordeal and miraculously surviving five days without food or water. The crash left 68-year-old Calvin Smith trapped and severely injured in a Kern County backcountry area on Aug. 29. As Calvin was driving to his home in Ridgecrest that day, his truck suddenly went over an embankment and fell down about 100 feet into a grassy ravine below. Calvin was ejected out the window during the impact and suffered a broken back and ribs. Unable to move, he lay there, praying he would soon be found. “I was terrified ..read more

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- A 4.6 magnitude quake struck an area near Ridgecrest Thursday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Data from USGS shows the quake struck an area about 8 miles northeast of Ridgecrest at around 6:20 p.m. A preliminary report showed the magnitude was first recorded as 4.3, but has been upgraded to 4.6. The USGS site does not show self-reports of shaking, but 17 News received reports of shaking being felt in Tehachapi. We will update this story as we learn more information ..read more

A 63-year-old man was arrested after he fired at two teenagers who were throwing water balloons in Kern County on Saturday, authorities said. The man was asleep in his pickup in Ridgecrest when the teens, aged 18 and 17, drove by and threw water balloons at his truck, police said. While the man inspected his pickup for damage, the teens drove by again. He pulled out a 12 gauge shotgun from the truck and fired at the driver's door, causing damage to their vehicle and minor injuries to the driver, according to police. The suspect then fled the scene in his vehicle. Deputies with the Kern County ..read more

A new study suggests that last year’s Ridgecrest earthquakes increased the chance of a large earthquake on California’s San Andreas fault. The study, published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America on Monday, says there is now a 2.3% chance of an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or greater in the next 12 months on a section of the 160-mile-long Garlock fault, which runs along the northern edge of the Mojave Desert. That increased likelihood, in turn, would cause there to be a 1.15% chance of a large earthquake on the San Andreas fault in the next year. Those odds may seem small. B ..read more

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported at 11:45 p.m. Friday 15 miles from Ridgecrest, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred 43 miles from California City, 65 miles from Tehachapi, 68 miles from Bakersfield and 71 miles from Porterville. In the past 10 days, there have been 15 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby. An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample. Read the full story on LATimes.com ..read more

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck near Ridgecrest Wednesday evening and was felt across Southern California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor hit at about 6:32 p.m. about 14 miles east of Ridgecrest, which has seen thousands of quakes since two large ones around July 4 last year, USGS said. A map provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a 5.5 magnitude quake that hit near Ridgecrest on June 3, 2020. Wednesday’s quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 but was upgraded to 5.5. The incident triggered a ShakeAlert as far as Los Angeles, warning people to drop and seek safe ..read more

A magnitude-3.8 earthquake was reported at 5:55 a.m. Sunday 13 miles from Ridgecrest, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred 41 miles from California City, 63 miles from Tehachapi, 66 miles from Bakersfield and 69 miles from Rosamond. It occurred at a depth of 4.3 miles. The quake was preceded Sunday by a magnitude-3.5 shaker at 4:30 a.m., also 13 miles from Ridgecrest. That temblor occurred at a depth of 3.9 miles. In the last 10 days, there have been six earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby. Read the full story on LATimes.com ..read more

Residents’ phones buzzed across Ridgecrest Thursday afternoon with alerts warning them of an earthquake and telling them to take cover. But the shaking never came. It was a technical error that prompted the emergency alerts to go off around 2:10 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert System. The wireless emergency earthquake alerts are only meant to be sent to people who could feel the shaking of quakes magnitude 5 or greater, according to the agency. “We understand that receiving this message was upsetting. This was not intentional. We are investigating on how we can impro ..read more

A magnitude-3.1 earthquake was reported at 6:49 a.m. Sunday 13 miles from Ridgecrest, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred 41 miles from California City, Calif., 64 miles from Tehachapi, Calif., 68 miles from Bakersfield and 71 miles from Rosamond, Calif. In the past 10 days, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby. An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.0 to 4.0 occur each year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample. Read the full story on LATimes.com ..read more

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was reported at 4:37 p.m. Thursday 11 miles from Ridgecrest, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred 25 miles from California City, Calif.; 51 miles from Barstow; 62 miles from Rosamond, Calif.; and 64 miles from Tehachapi, Calif. In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby. An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample. Read the full story on LATimes.com ..read more