Big quake rattles Southern California, early reports of damage east of Los Angeles

A powerful earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday, touching off house fires and damaging buildings in a desert town, northeast of Los Angeles. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck about 113 miles northeast of Los Angeles near the city of Ridgecrest at around 1:30 pm according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 

The quake is the largest in Southern California since the 1994 magnitude 6.6 Northridge earthquake, USGS geophysicist said. That quake, which was centered in a heavily populated area of Los Angeles, caused billions of dollars of damage.