(LA Times) – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday, the largest temblor to hit the region in decades. The 10:33 a.m. quake was centered in the Searles Valley, a remote area of Kern County about 100 miles from Los Angeles. The quake was the largest in Southern California since the 1994 6.6 Northridge quake, which killed dozens and caused billions of dollars in damage. But the Northridge quake hit in the center of a populated area, while Thursday’s quake was located far from the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

It was also a relatively deep quake, occurring more than five miles underground. “I was in my kitchen trying to get some coffee and all the windows started rattling,” said Emma Gallegos, a 34-year-old journalist in southwest Bakersfield. “It was just a little bit at first — I thought something was going by, and then I realized all the windows were rattling. It was kind of a long gentle roll and I felt two distinct waves.” Gallegos said that the dried chiles hanging from a hook on her kitchen wall were all shaking. “It was surreal.” READ MORE