Satellite Images Show Large Crack Formed in the Earth After California's Earthquake

Cailey Rizzo

Last week’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake in California ripped open a fissure that is visible from space.

Planet Labs Inc.
Planet Labs Inc.

The July 5 earthquake near Ridgecrest, California did more than knock bottles off shelves and send people searching for cover. As the sun rose the following day, it became evident that the earthquake had ripped open a new fissure in the earth, visible from space satellite imagery.

Images from space show a surface rupture about 10 miles north of Ridgecrest. The thin gash appears in a sparsely-populated desert area.

An onlooker views newly ruptured ground after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck in the area on July 6, 2019 near Ridgecrest, California. | Mario Tama/Getty Images
An onlooker views newly ruptured ground after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck in the area on July 6, 2019 near Ridgecrest, California. | Mario Tama/Getty Images

Shakes from the earthquake were felt throughout California, with shaking extending “at least as far east as Phoenix and as far north as Sacramento,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The earthquake damaged a few buildings close to its epicenter but nobody was injured.

Planet Labs Inc.
Planet Labs Inc.

This was the largest earthquake in the area since 1999, according to the Los Angeles Times. It was part of a two-day succession of quakes that struck the region.

A highway nearby is closed after the earthquake moved sections of the road, according to NBC Palm Springs.

The USGS said that the earthquake occurred about five miles beneath the surface of the earth. It was part of a sequence of earthquakes that began about a week earlier, although the wave did not make its presence known until a 6.4-magnitude earthquake on July 4.