Important Takeaways:
- An earthquake centered in the Malibu area produced shaking Thursday morning in widespread parts of Southern California from the coast to inland communities.
- It was followed by aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 3.4 with more aftershocks possible in the hours and days ahead.
- Centered just north of Malibu, shaking from the 7:28 a.m. quake at a depth of about seven miles was reported in Malibu, Hermosa Beach, La Mirada, Anaheim, Santa Monica, the Hollywood Hills and parts of the San Fernando Valley.
- Shaking is more likely to be felt from shallow earthquakes, which are those between 0 and about 40 miles deep.
- There were no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage.
- Southern California has felt shaking from several earthquakes in recent weeks, including a magnitude-5.2 quake located south of Bakersfield.
- “We are having earthquakes. None of them have been damaging. They’ve all been small,” said seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones. “This is a really good reminder that the quiet of the last couple of decades is not our long-term picture.”
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Important Takeaways:
- More than 100,000 people are under evacuation orders as several blazing wildfires continue to tear through parts of California.
- Apocalyptic scenes continue in San Bernardino County where the Line Fire has already caused 6,000 residents to flee.
- Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency after several days of triple-digit temperatures stoked the wildfire that burned so violently it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems.
- As of Monday night, the Line Fire had charred more than 23,000 acres, with more than 36,000 structures under threat.
- Firefighters have been working in steep terrain and challenging conditions in temperatures above 100 degrees, limiting their ability to control the blaze.
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Important Takeaways:
- Residents in California experienced a swarm of five earthquakes within the last 48 hours.
- A 4.4-magnitude was felt in the north around Lake County on Saturday and two more struck the area the following evening, ranked as a 2.7 and 2.8-magnitude.
- Locals in southern California also reported two more quakes on Saturday, with the largest ranking a 3.9-magnitude.
- Northern California typically sees a spate of about 50 earthquakes per month, experienced two quakes this weekend, in addition to the two felt in the southern area of the state.
- ‘2024 has had more earthquakes than any year we’ve seen since 1988,’ Caltech geophysicist Dr Lucy Jones told reporters. ‘We should expect this to continue.’
- Experts believe a major quake in Southern California – usually defined as 7.0 and up – could kill at least 1,800, leave 50,000 injured and cause more than $200 billion in damage.
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Important Takeaways:
- California health officials are preparing for an uptick in valley fever cases and have issued a warning over the potentially deadly fungal infection after a surge of cases linked to a local music festival
- At least 19 people attending or working at the Lightning in a Bottle music festival have contracted valley fever, according to a statement from the California Department of Public Health.
- Eight of these have been hospitalized, the health department said, warning that additional cases may emerge among the more than 20,000 festival-goers who attended the outdoor event at Buena Vista Lake in Kern County between 22 and 27 May.
- Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis or just “cocci” (pronounced “cock-see”), is a lung infection caused by breathing in the spores of a soil-dwelling fungus, Coccidioides, that lives in areas in the southwestern U.S. including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Texas, as well as parts of Washington, Mexico and Central America.
- Activities like digging, gardening or construction that disturb soil and dust—as well as weather events like dust storms—increase the risk of disturbing and inhaling spores and of those infected, about 40% will develop symptoms of respiratory illness and pneumonia like fatigue, fever and a cough between one and three weeks after inhalation.
- While most people with valley fever recover on their own without the need for medication after several weeks or months of illness, a small number of people will develop serious or long-term lung problems, between 5% and 10% of cases, and in 1% of people the infection will spread from the lungs to other parts of the body including the skin, bones, joints and brain, which can be serious or even fatal if not treated with antifungal drugs.
- Fungal diseases kill 1.5 million each year, a death toll on par with major killers like tuberculosis and more than double that of threats like malaria, HIV and breast cancer.
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Important Takeaways:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes as severe land shift in the area is threatening the community and disrupting power lines.
- More than 200 homes in the city, around 30 miles south of Los Angeles, had their power cut Monday as a long-running ground shift close to them is threatening utility lines.
- “The city is located on four out of five sub-slides that comprise the Greater Portuguese Landslide Complex,” the governor’s office said. “Land movement at part of the Complex has significantly accelerated following severe storms in 2023 and 2024.”
- “This is unprecedented,” Rancho Palos Verdes City Council member Barbara Ferraro said Sunday. “No one knows really, in a way, what to do.”
- Southern California Edison cut off electricity Sunday to 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend community, an outage that it says is indefinite because the shifting ground threatens utility poles and raises the risk of fires in the city.
- Officials say the land there has been shifting slowly for decades, but the problem is worse than it used to be. “The movement has accelerated dramatically over the last 12 months, where some areas are moving up to 10 inches a week,” said City Council member David Bradley. “You can almost see the ground move.”
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Important Takeaways:
- California Democrats are “crazy” for passing a progressive legislature that would give illegal immigrants up to $150,000 in first-time homeownership, officials said.
- The bill, AB 1840, would require the California Housing Finance Authority’s home purchase assistance program, or California Dream for All Program, to include illegal immigrants’ applications.
- The bill cleared the state Senate on Tuesday.
- In a statement to Fox News Digital, California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City argued that the legislation would exacerbate the border crisis, the housing crisis and the high cost of living in the Golden State.
- “I didn’t know it was possible to make the border crisis and the housing crisis worse with just one vote, but Democrats found a way,” Gallagher said. “Giving taxpayer-funded housing subsidies to illegal immigrants will drive costs even higher and encourage more chaos at the border.”
- “This is crazy, and it needs to stop,” he said.
- The California Dream for All program passed despite funds running out just 11 days after being instituted in June, which was awarded to 1,700 first-time homebuyers at the time.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has not said whether he will sign the bill into law if it clears the legislature before the Aug. 31 deadline.
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Important Takeaways:
- Los Angeles earthquake follows cluster of California temblors: ‘Almost don’t believe it’
- A magnitude 4.4 earthquake rumbled underneath Los Angeles on Monday, less than a week after a bigger one jolted much of Southern California.
- The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter of Monday’s quake near the Highland Park neighborhood in the city’s northeast and three miles from Pasadena, California, site of the New Year’s Day Rose Parade. The tremor, which struck about 12:20 p.m. PT, was felt as far north as Bakersfield, California, and further south in San Diego, both more than 100 miles from Los Angeles.
- “No significant infra/structure damage or injuries have been noted within the city”, the Los Angeles Fire Department said after conducting a survey.
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Important Takeaways:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will start to redirect money from cities and counties that don’t show “demonstrable results” in reducing homelessness.
- Newsom made pointed comments Thursday criticizing some local jurisdictions for not doing enough despite the “unprecedented resources” the state has provided.
- The Democratic governor’s order followed a US Supreme Court decision in June that ruled in favor of an Oregon city that ticketed homeless people for sleeping outside
- Newsom said his order emphasizes working with local service providers to get people resources and doesn’t mention citations. “This is not about criminalization. What’s criminal, is neglecting people who are struggling and suffering and dying on our watch”
- “This is not one of those political things,” Newsom said. “This is a sincerely held belief that we need local government to step up. This is a crisis, act like it.”
- Money could start being redirected in January when the state starts forming its budget proposals, Newsom said.
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Important Takeaways:
- After starting as a 25-acre wildland fire in El Dorado County early on Wednesday morning the Crozier Fire is now among the five largest active wildland fires in California.
- The fire is burning in the Swansboro/Mosquito area of El Dorado County, about 14.5 miles northeast of Placerville and around 60 miles east of Sacramento.
- As fire crews enter the third day of battling the Crozier Fire in El Dorado County, the fire saw a second night of large growth.
- The Crozier Fire gained 123 acres through Thursday night and is now being mapped at 1,705 acres.
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Important Takeaways:
- After starting as a 25-acre wildland fire in El Dorado County early on Wednesday morning the Crozier Fire is now among the 10 largest active wildland fires in California.
- Uncommonly strong winds for the area and continued hot and dry conditions have allowed the fire to rapidly grow in size within its first day.
- The Crozier Fire has now burned 1,187 acres with 5% containment. The fire had grown by 481 acres between 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
- In their morning report, CAL FIRE Amador-El Dorado Unit says the fire is burning in an area of heavy timber, thick brush and that is proving difficult to access.
- After the Crozier Fire grew by an additional 135 acres overnight, CAL FIRE has also increased the evacuation warning zones.
- California’s sixth-largest active fire grew overnight from 571 acres to 706. That is an increase of 135 acres.
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