(TNS) — Aftershocks from the recent earthquakes near Ridgecrest, Calif., are decreasing in both frequency and magnitude, and seismologists say they expect the pattern to continue.
The earthquakes on July 4 and 5 — one a magnitude 6.4 and the other a 7.1 — were the strongest to hit the area in 20 years. Thousands of aftershocks have already been reported, and scientists have said they expect thousands more — about 34,000 over the next six months.
But since an initial cluster of magnitude 5 and above quakes that struck in the hours following the 7.1 temblor, the aftershocks have been subsiding in intensity and striking less often, an analysis of seismological data shows.
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