July 9, 2019
Magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes struck the Mojave Desert in California on July 4 and July 5, respectively, causing an estimated $1 billion in economic losses. These quakes were the result of shallow strike-slip faulting in the Eastern California shear zone and were separated by nearly 250 M2.5+ tremblors over the course of 34 hours.
Both earthquakes were recorded on sensors in the NMT Seismic Observatory managed by Dr. Mairi Litherland (New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources). The images show the first arrivals of waves generated from the magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes reaching the Seven Rivers Hills sensor near Carlsbad. In both cases, the seismic signals reached the sensor approximately 3 minutes after the actual earthquakes.