Los Angeles

Tourists Flocking To Take Photos With Cracks Caused By Ridgecrest Earthquakes

July 10, 2019 / 5:55 AM PDT / KCAL News

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RIDGECREST (CBSLA) — Cracks in the earth left behind by the two big earthquakes that rocked Ridgecrest last week are drawing a steady stream of people eager to take pictures of the sight.

Repair and recovery work continues in the Ridgecrest area almost a week after it was struck by a magnitude-6.4 earthquake on the morning of Fourth of July. That quake is now considered a foreshock to the 7.1 earthquake that struck less than 48 hours later.

RIDGECREST, CALIFORNIA - JULY 06: An onlooker views newly ruptured ground after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck in the area on July 6, 2019 near Ridgecrest, California. The earthquake, which occurred July 5th, was the second large earthquake to hit the area in two days and the largest in Southern California in 20 years. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The earthquake struck in a sparsely populated area, but was widely felt throughout Southern California. People as far east as Las Vegas and north as Fresno reported feeling the temblor, and a death in Nevada's Nye County is being investigated as the first possible casualty.

The nearby Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake was heavily damaged by the earthquakes, which also left the San Bernardino city of Trona without water for several days.

Local 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 June 6, 2019. - Local residents and out of town visitors flocked to the spot to see the earthquake's geologic effects on the earth's surface. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

But tourists are beginning to make their way out to the remote Mojave Desert area where large cracks were left in the earth by the quake.

One woman got down inside the crack as her dog on leash looked on, while a girl accompanied by two adults stuck one leg inside another. The apparent geological tests were naturally photographed for posterity.

RIDGECREST, CALIFORNIA - JULY 07: 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)

The U.S. Geological Survey says such photo ops are not advisable as there's no way to know how deep the fresh cracks in the earth are, and whether they can collapse without notice.