Reporting from Ridgecrest, Calif. — Christian Flores had traveled more than 200 miles, from San Diego to the Mojave Desert, to visit the latest Southern California tourist attraction.
There it was, on the hot asphalt of Highway 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona: a gnarly, surprisingly wide scar, courtesy of one very large earthquake. And just a few miles down the road lay another one — caused by a second, even larger and more terrifying quake.
Flores couldn’t wait to upload what he saw on his YouTube channel.
Since the Fourth of July, tourists, geologists and students have converged on the once-desolate spot from far and wide, to see the ruptures on Highway 178 caused by last week’s magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes. The Grand Canyon this is not — but the cracks were sizable enough to make visitors gape.
Trucks, minivans and sedans slowed down to park on the gravel lining the side of the highway. Families with young children hopped out. Researchers with GPS devices set up their machinery. Others ventured into the brown shrubbery as they followed the surface ruptures into hilly terrain.
They held cameras and shot selfies in the middle of the road.
Flores picked up rocks he had found on the surface rupture as souvenirs and placed them gently in the back of his car trunk.
As a dust devil whirled, Michelle Binion, 56, marveled at the rupture caused by the first quake. She had driven with her husband to the area from Rancho Cucamonga, determined to see the evidence of nature’s power.
“This is absolutely worth the drive,” she said with a smile. “I think as human beings we like to live on the edge. This fault really shows you just how vulnerable we are
Some of the cracks traveled across the highway and into the desert landscape on either side.
It has been about 20 years since scientists have seen a quake of this magnitude in California, said Cynthia Pridmore of the California Earthquake Clearinghouse — a website where experts and quake novices can share their observations.
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