>> i'm joling kent. we are following news out of california where there was a 6.4 earthquake out of ridgecrest. reports of fires and structural damage, victims in need of medical assistance.

thank you for joining us here on the phone. >> hello. >> what should people expect from a 6.4 magnitude earthquake in southern california? >> this is a region suspectable to that size. there are a number of faults out in the mojave desert. we find out more every time there is another earthquake. >> you study movements and the deformations of the earth's surface. are you getting your stuff together and heading out? >> yeah, a few months ago, we were in ridgecrest doing measurements at the fault. since we have a position where the ground was three months ago, we can go back now and see how much the ground moved.

it is a great opportunity. >> a great opportunity because it does appear there has not been any casualties or major injuries. 6.4 may sound to somebody outside of california very large. how would you describe what that feels like? >> for me, it felt like the ground was shaking for 20 seconds under my feet. if you are closer, obviously the shaking is much, much stronger. if it happens under old brick buildings, it could easily knock them down. that's the size of the earthquake. >> dr. lucy jones was saying this actually involved two faults. can you explain that to us? >> yes. this is a part of the little lake fault zone. it is what we call an immature

fault like. it is broken into a lot of zig zag segments. it appears two of those segments have lit up with after shocks. sort of an l shape. the smaller one in the end which slipped a little after that. >> an earthquake in the desert along these two fault lines versus a earthquake that happens in a more mountainous or desert area, is there a difference? is. >> it is. it is to deal with the kind of soil. looking at whether the course of the soil is more rocky or sandy.

it could mick more waves and make the shaking worse. i would imagine in the mojave desert, it could be worse than in places like in los angeles, which is more fine clay, which would cause the shaking to get stror stronger. if the same earthquake happened in los angeles, the shaking would be a lot worse. >> richard gary here with joling. the concern, as you know are the old pipes that exist in many homes regardless if they are in the ridge crest area or los angeles area where we have about 10 million citizens. what level would we need to be concerned of a lot of pipes in the underground or the various

houses. gas being a concern. building up right now and in places we don't know about. >> right. so generally speaking, the largest cause of fire is people walking in and schering up the walls and breaking off the gas mains causing fires this will be confined to the local area. of course, they are aware as we are as those who live in earthquake country. >> the earthquake country unless you live in japan.

in your expertise, the way these plates move up and down, forward, backward and what it might mean to the freeway system there. there was a lot of work and retrofitting a cross the state, changing of codes whether in southern or northern california. we are at 6.4. what would be your concern about the type of movement and the type of damage we might see for the world's largest raised highway system? >> right. that may cause the support to topple.

i think most of the retrofitting has been done to lessen that kind of impact. the other effect is the actual offset of the fault itself. we don't know yet because no one has actually mapped the central region of this earthquake just yet. >> this area of ridgecrest, how is it? how does it compare to san andres and that connection there? >> it is the region like the same as the san andres fault where the movement is horizontal. there is another fault close by call the the gallup fault that

is miysterious. it doesn't seem to be moving. we thought it might be that fault but we no it was further north. you get many of these strike set faults. the thought is in the long term, you'd initiate the new earthquake boundary which cuts out most of california. these faults align very well with the boundaries of the south. it takes this really weird bend. >> i want to ask you one follow up question. tweeting out in the last 15 minutes or so when that actually happened. we don't know where they are getting that information from. where do they think this information is coming from?

we haven't had the opportunity to delve into the information. i do know after a small earthquake, there is a 10% chance of a larger one. that could be where they get their information from. there is always a type of after shock after a large earthquake. there are statistic call models that try to predict these type of things. >> thank you for lending us your expertise on this fourth of july. we will bring in our news

correspondent. i can't believe you had the guts to go out on your balcony and take video. >> it's that feeling of not knowing what's going on and wanting to know. we jumped outside and we could see that pool across the way starting to shift back and forth and starting to go everywhere. >> you think of the ground as something that is your rock, your foundation. all of a sudden, this large apartment building was shake. your eyes play a trick on you because you think how could something so large be shifting.

you can see at the back of our apartment there starting to shake. fortunately that was it --. >> it is that feeling of not knowing is it going to get worse or better. are things going to start falling around us. it's that feeling like when you are in a parking garage and a car drives by. we looked at each other and pulled out our video. >> i should mention kim is a reporter at knbc. how prepared are you for this being in los angeles there. do you feel ready? >> i don't think we are ready for a big one. if that would have hit here in los angeles, we would have seen extensive damage everywhere.

the best thing you can do is have a preparedness kit. we've spent a lot of time preparing with lucy jones. if you do spend any time with lucy, you will get your own kit. this is the little go baggy keep in my closet. i have another minione i keep in the jeep. a first aid kit, a couple of knives. these are jet oil or something you get at rei for $75. you can heat up water quickly. so you can make these freeze dried foods. extra charger for phones. a solar panel to keep phones charged.

flashlights, warm weather sleeping bag, face bags. as you know in los angeles, everybody is assigned one of these. a short wave radio. >> i have one next to my bed. >> you never know when the entire grid could go down and we could not have cell phone service for an extended period of time. >> gadi, richard here. when i put together my kit after the big one, the 6.9 in northern california. they were selling these kits premade. you could buy a small, medium and large. the large would have body bags in it. that's how serious when you are in los angeles. another thing, i was watching walls in my home move like a foot to the left and right. you were mentioning how your

complex was moving was it like two inches to the left or right? >> it was very, very slight. it was like your eyes were playing a trick on you. it was like is this my eyesight that is causing that building to look like it is moving. you are in a situation where you are seeing something you don't normally see. >> surreal. >> you are almost trying to look at the sky line a little to see what the tops of the buildings are doing. and you knew because everybody else was coming out of their apartments as well, which we don't suggest. if it would have gotten really bad, we would have gone into our stair well or some place safer. >> i think the primal instinct is to get outside. it all depends on the

circumstance. if there is a lot of shaking, you want to go to a stair well or a doorway. >> gadi schwartz and kim tobin, both with nbc. we are glass you are both okay. >> going to the phone with the captain of the fire department. thank you for being with us. when you look at the broader southern california area. one earthquake for the area is a earthquake for the entire region. looking at the concerns, i was talking with one of the professors. the concern as i would remember is gas right now. can't really go two or three hours outside of when the incident happened. >> that's right. we have a lot of concerns following the earthquake. the infrastructure, there is target hazards we look at, which is hospitals. schools are out of session today. some of those type of buildings

we'll go on the drive through and through the districts in los angeles. some of those things we are looking for is the gas leaks, power lines down. that could pose a hazard to the community. >> any reports right now in terms of los angeles, los angeles county. fires. reports of gas and people are saying they can smell it in their home. >> you know, actually. very fortunate. after doing a cleat survey of the city. we actually moved pretty fast. every fire department went out to check their area. there are no reports of damage. when something like this when there is a earthquake, we have a few power outages. we had some power outages downtown los angeles where

people were caught in an elevator. you've got certain protocols. i understand you are in earthquake mode. what does that trigger? >> yes. whenever there is a earthquake felt and we are in contact with pasadena, dr. lucy jones and cal tech. we get a lot of that information quickly. when there is a earthquake felt, every fire station in the city of los angeles, they get an alarm. they are notified to go into earthquake mode. basically what that is. the firefighters will get on the apparatus and survey their fire station and personnel to make sure everybody is okay. they go to check in with the particular battalion and survey the entire district.

>> what status are you in right now in the earthquake mode? >> actually, we are all clear. we've conducted that search. we are in that mode for about an hour and a half. we got the all clear to resume normal operations. right now. things are back to north al. we surveyed those districts. we are basically business as usual. >> i'd like to know, are you planning to assist those folks in ridgecrest as they figure out what has been going on? >> here in los angeles, we haven't dedicated any resources or been asked to proside avide resources just yet. we have other counties or cities if they request some help. we have urban search and rescue

specialists. los angeles has one of 28 teams trained in urban search and rescue techniques. same as those that respond to 9/11. we have those resources upon request. >> we can't thank you enough there from the los angeles fire department. days like this. we appreciate every single one of those who work with the fire department. thank you so much, sir. have a good fourth, if you can. >> thank you, you do the same. >> i'd like to bring in patrick and author of natural disasters. what do you make of this 6.4 magnitude earthquake. this is to ttally expected. there is no decade that goes by with you don't have these. for today's it is primarily

energy dumped out on desert communities. not trying to pick on them but saying not as many people to feel this if it was in los angeles or san diego. >> we do know the ridgecrest regional hospital has been evacuated. >> yes. any time the earthquake goes above 6, you expect building damage and injury and problems with people. >> i hope that won't happen. this is a tremendous amount of energy. basically the waves seek out and finds where things were not built right or there is a problem. the earthquake kind of sniffs out and tests where all the building code standards were not met. that's what we see. >> do you think, is california

really ready, in your opinion? is. >> i think so. i'm very pleased with how californians have responded. there are 40 million here. going back through 1973, 1991, 1994. each of those, the following year, we have laws passed and changes in the building codes to not face the same mistakes. when you look at the damage from these major earthquakes and compare those to other countries when the same size of earthquake happens and they are talking about thousands of people are dead and we have a few people dead. i'm not trying to belittle but i'm saying the a amount we suffer is very small and we keep improving. >> that is a good thing to hear.

i live in los angeles. you couldn't sta you constantly see buildings being retrofitted. that makes me feel like we are not ready. >> i agree with what you are saying. i love to see retrofitting. that means people are recognizing that buildings are not as good as they should be and should be strengthened. i wish every building was retrofelted and not all of them are. i want to congratulate and pats on the back to the folks that do. >> as a retrofitter lover yourself, what do you say to people who look at the buildings, you know the reports of the leaning tower in downtown

san francisco. some will say, they haven't learned fast enough and they are still building in places that are a earthquake zone and you think why are you doing that? like in places like san francisco. >> i agree with you 100%. for the people in the building in san francisco. and the amount of money of folks that are living in it. i'm not going to excuse it. what can you say, the building design wasn't good enough. i can't defend them. trying to take the broader view of saying, we are primarily looking at isolated buildings. even if you look back to the

1989 during the w0rorld series baseball. the roadway that collapsed shouldn't not have happened but it did. but those are retrofitted now. the problems then at the bay bridge. one section broke but bart kept working. we don't see total destruction. i'm not trying to ex use mistakes but i'd still like to say, we are making progress and doing better all the time. we are near perfect. that's for sure. >> let's bring it back to local time in california now. what is the worst case scenario. i remember living through loma prieta. i remember sleeping with one eye

open. >> well you never have just one earthquake. they could take place for months or years. for something the size of the 6.4, they are going to be feeling after shocks for at least half a year. the biggest usual liqueur witlyn the next 72 hours. you may see a magnitude five, maybe some fours and then down into the threes. what we are really looking is is an adjustment. after shocks coming? there will be. they are merely in a sequence.

the better way to look at it is to say the earth is moving and will be moving along that fault line for months or years. >> we have an update from the regional hospital in that area. they have evacuated. the emergency room is still over for people in the community. so far, they are working with police and fire. no structural assuredness at that medical center. >> that's a good point to bring up with you, patrick. it is not only the buildings. it is the systems of emergency response. it is how fema responds locally and nationally to large c catastrophes not usually

associated with california. have the systems become stronger aside from the buildings themselves? >> we see far more emphasis on the whole first responders. this is basically first responders dealing with cleaning up or assisting people after the earthquakes. >> i think as the first responders are more numerous, they can basically behave as first responders. there are always the heart warming things you see after be it a hurricane, wild fire or earthquake. to go help and be of value to help others. so i think society as a whole, it seems like we have an increasing percentage of people

helping. during a earthquake, number one business. so you are no big to anybody. to protect yourself, you get out and look around to see if other people are in need of help, that sort of a thing. >> one of the things you remind me of, when i walk into a building, i always look for the baring wall. people think i'm crazy. but that's how it is in california. when is this idea of a shake app or shake alert there in southern california going to work? you are just spitting distance from silicon valley there.

any energy towards the app there? >> there is always focus on the app. it depends on the funding. govern brown was a fan of this. i have not heard governor newsom weigh in. there are things that make it difficult. you are not just sitting in your office or your room doing this all by yourself. the first wave that comes in, the p waves are not necessarily felt. it is not necessarily obvious how much the whole series will be. the significant thing is how long will the fault move. how long meaning distance and time wise. the longer it moves, the more energy that gets sent out.

that is not always easy to read. if the energy on one fault triggers another fault, that could throw the calculation to throw off. there is technical problems. we just did that here in san diego last week where we were just testing the system to have an imaginary earthquake at 11:00 a.m. and then ask people to respond with what time did they receive it. just doing a test to see how effective it is to sharpen out the responsibility. on the social side of it.

there is work going forward on this. i applaud it. another thing, it is not a prediction system. it only works after a earthquake has already started. the point of that being, if you are at the epicenter, you get no warning. you are there. that depends on the distance. the farther away you are, the more time you have. the more warning time you have. even when it is working in perfection, it doesn't affect or reach all people, only the ones away from the center. i'm not a fan of it. i'm trying to say, it is a step or progress. it is not a problem solver. >> patrick, i wan to thank you so much. wandering about where the governor stands on all of this.

he did retreat saying. the regional operations center are activated to help ridgecrest. if i could have one last question for you. are you still there? >> yes, i am. >> just building off your last answer there. we heard from dr. jones at cal tech that there are likely two fault lines here. does that indicate what could come in the next month or year? >> not necessarily. i'm a geologist, so i view it from a plate techtonic perspective. the whole peninsula of california and baja, we are pulling away. that's why there is a whole gulf

of california. we are pulling away. that's accommodating the three dimensional of the pulling away of the californias from north america. in terms of us human beings on land, it means sometimes you get two earthquakes. we had that here in '97 near the salton sea. >> patrick, i hate to cut you off. we are now being joined by phone by house minority leader. was affected by this 6.4 earthquake. how is everyone doing on the ground there, leader mccarthy? >> we are doing well. i have to thank the first responders. the size of this earthquake.

this was a very large earthquake. the first assessment was fortunate. we have some fires going. we are checking the fires. i know there was some damage at the hospital. you could feel this two hours away into los angeles. this was a sizeable earthquake. was ridge crest ready for this? you know in california, you can never be 100% ready. you've been through a number of these. this is different. normally, you get some after shocks. you have some after shocks even prior to it that were on a smaller scale. just a couple of days ago in the southern end of the county, we had about 10 to 12 earthquakes. you always try to prepare. you can never prepare enough especially for this size. >> we know the president has been briefed and says it seems

things are under control. >> i just got off the phone with the white house. they are there to support. in ridgecrest, we have an important naval base. thiss where we do the r&d, where some of the brightest minds work and some of the labest labs in e country. having that facility there, we have a lot of support checking everything to make sure everything is okay. >> leader mccarthy. richard l richard luis. you are a home town guy from bakersfield, california. what are people telling you? >> i'm born and raised here. bakersfield is about 90 minutes from there. the downtown has been wiped out. if you've lived in california,

you've lived through earthquakes. the strongest one i've been through was northridge. this was not as intense. any time you get into the six range, that is intense. more than two hours away, buildings in los angeles were shaking. we are fortunate for the size of the earthquake and the amount of damage we are seeing currently. what do you think the emergency or the earthquake mode, if i can use the term, is. the status of that. if you feel like if something big does happen, that the south land is ready?

the fortunate part is we lived through these before. we lost a california highway officer going off the bridge because they couldn't see that. you are never fully prepared. it is not like the weather person can warn you. it just hits. the units and first responders have trained. the first thing you've got to check is that you've got gaslights and buildings there when the buildings started to fall. the roads were tore up. if you tried to drive, it was

more difficult. i feel confident with how the first responders responded. i talked to the mayor, county supervisor and police chief. they are working well together. >> they are the ones right out front. your house there in the district, have you prepared for it. do you have that little wrench next to your gas supply to turn it off? >> you should always reassess. there is units you can buy. you can go to costco. you should know how to turn your gas off. if you are not injured, don't call 911. we want to make sure we are able to get to those who need help. and check on your neighbors.

we are on a holiday. they might be out of town. check their house. the gas company is out there. >> great advise for the house. leader mccarthy, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> joining us now by phone. an observational seismologist. >> what is an obserthis? >> i place sensors out in the s areas. in ridgecrest, are there sensors there?

>> we have seismometers all over that area. >> what did they tell you? we know there have been at least four or five after shocks that have happened? >> that's right. our sensors recorded the main shock this morning magnitude 6.4 that occurred just outside of ridgecrest. those are probably felt. and then nine of magnitude four or larger. those will shake up people close to the epicenter. >> interesting for folks, they don't realize after that large one happens, there could be

hupds that happen simultaneously. it could feel like somebody is under your seat, or something like that. but it is not just one big one and then four and then one big one among what could be hundreds as you are describing here? >> that's right. for the people in the area, they are going to be feeling many, many earthquakes today, tomorrow probably for the next week. they will hopefully start to taper off after that. we generally have a rule of thumb. the biggest after shock for an event of this size. about a magnitude 5.4. about one unit smaller than the main shock. i will note there is a small possibility of a larger earthquake happening. that just becomes a matter of

odds. >> i'd like to know once those after shocks subside, should they brace for something much larger? >> people in california generally know, we can't predict earthquakes. so they should always be ready for another event to happen. generally, we see after a main shock, we see days, weeks to months even after that main shock happens. they do gad you'lly tail off. >> thank you so much. >> an observal seismologist in pasadena, california. >> let's go now to a press

briefing live. >> we feel like we have the upper hand on this now. they are evacuating the ridgecrest area. >> so people really want to know how you guys are able to predict these earthquakes. >> so i don't predict earthquakes. however, we are going to research what happened and go from there. >> anything you guys want to add or let people know about ready current? making sure everybody knows what to do. >> yes. right after this, we'll talk about ready current and being prepared for emergencies. do you have any other questions for the fire chief? >> you have a few reports of injuries. are you allowed to elaborate where those are and the capacity? >> we don't know the exact locations.

so far, they've been minor. multiple buildings, you've got glass that broke or shelves in grocery stores that have fallen down. injuries go along with that. we are actively going through those. >> can you locate those? are they in the ridgecrest area? >> we are talking about the area of ridgecrest itself. >> a lot of people on facebook live are asking about road closures. anything you know about? >> i'm not going to be able to addre address road closures right now. we have heard of a couple of big cracks and we are working on those. >> i apologize. i know everyone here is really busy. one pitch on how the situation is going on right now.

>> okay. i'll get to that. >> one question. we are going to get you road. how are you going to weigh this to the public [ inaudible ] >> we are concerned about the after shocks. we have been told there have been a couple of after shocks. so if there are any other questions with regard to the incidents that taken place in ridgecrest? >> regarding dams. are you concerned about lake isabella there? >> yes. we are always concerned, thoughts are elevated whenever we have an earthquake. we've reached out to the area and they are assessing the dam

now. they are actively working there as they are taking care of the situation there. as of now, we don't know. >> anything about the phone line and information about that? >> the phones and radios is all okay. they are shutting off gas in the area. [ inaudible ] >> i'm not aware of the events at ridgecrest that had taken place today. everything in the city of bakersfield -- [ inaudible ]. >> all right. you've been listening to kern county fire assess the

situation. we'll continue to bring you news. but becausicasically kern count saying they have heard of some minor injuries and some cracks in the road there. they are assessing the safety of a nearby dam. this comes after a 6.4 earthquake that rattled just a few hours ago. we are going to take a break and then head to washington where president trump is preparing to salute america. that's next.

in just a few hour, president trump is set to preside over his long awaited military celebration. his fourth of july eextrav bega. tanks and armored vehicles are already lining the streets. we're expecting a procession of military aircraft including air force one that's set to fly over as the president takes the stage tonight. but critics are taking issue with what they see as the president hijacking what's normally a unifying celebration of patriotism. it remains unclear as to just how much partisanship is president plans to infuse into what he's calling the, his salute to america. for his part, trump appears rather unconcerned, promising on twit ter that the event will be

quote one of the bigs celebrations in the history of our country. joining me now to break this down is hans nichols from washington, d.c. what's the feeling there on the ground now? >> it was a little soggy, very warm here and then the skies opened up. all these people coming in i. cooled things down so it's more manageable. there are two windows to think of for the rest of the afternoon. number one, the faa is opening up a window where they're going close the air space and that could allow the fly overs. b-2s, f-35s. blue angels are on tap as well. that's from 6:15 to 7:45. the other window is what the skies do and whether or not the weather cooperates. we've had thunderstorms for the last hour and that's been a challenge and will present a challenge for any sort of air show. now another thing to think of is is a lot of people got here early and they're wait ng line and monica has been b talking to them all morning and listen to the enthusiasm of some as

they're trying to go. >> signifying our independence is fabulous today. it's a great use of our military. and showing what we're all here for. and what we're celebrating. >> i think it's an honor. i mean we really, it i'm a ra m. >> two son-in-laws, a marine, one passed. >> we truly believe in spoth supporting this military and everything he's doing to try to make the servicemen's life bett better. >> just to give you color here, they had the silent marines here twirling their guns around. also the drum and bugle band. they have a whole program out here now. the president said you at 6 f:00. we'll see what time he makes his address. supposed to be tight. talk about all the service

branches, all four of the major ones. never want to leave off the coast guard and have it be a celebration and non partisan speech. the key on this and the challenge for the president is will he stick to script because it appears to be a partisan crowd and they sometimes, they infuse the president with certain energy. he feels it and there's almost a conversation back and forth. and we'll see whether or not the president keeps it nonpartisan. but i suspect it will be b a challenge. >> hans, it's richard alongside joe here. quick question for you. we saw some of the video from earlier with the equipment arriving. from where you're standing, what does it feel like and look like because d.c. has never seen something like this before. >> it's a pageant, right? where i'm sitting, we're up here, that behind me that's the lincoln memorial. you see the apron. that's where you have these fighting vehicles. there are a bunch of stands. i think they have space for about 5,000 people up close. now down the reflecting pool, you see crowds gathering.

they've been waiting out in the rain all day. you're right. there's something semiunique. they do sometimes parades here, but those are really a single service branch focus and it's more about the precision and accuracy of their drilling. the marines will coilt on sunset as well as the ar my. what's you neek here is having the president of the united states gather this and inject himself into it. now he's not total hi unique. president truman did this some 60 years ago and the idea this it would be void of politics -- this seems to be b new and it has a carnival atmosphere. there's a lot of enthusiasm here. it's part patriotism, part politics and we'll see what side the president stays on. >> i want to know quickly here what has been the reaction from the top military and attending this, supporting this, use of resources. >> publicly, they're saluting. that's what the pentagon and top

officials do. they understand who their commander in chief is. whatever the order is. as long as it's law. if it's the lawful order, they'll undertax it and they're quite serious about that. now privately, there may be some grumbling, but publicly, they're saluting and happy to be part of this celebration. >> hans nicholls, thank you so much. that does it for us on this hour of msnbc live. we're going to continue to cover that 6.4 magnitude earthquake in southern california. we've been talk iing with law enforcement on the ground. they say that so far, just minor injuries. no fatalities, so that's good news. >> absolutely. and we'll be of course watching on msnbc throughout this afternoon. stay with us for updates and the latest news on this story. >> all right. there we have it. after a quick break, the rachel maddow show next. show next

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it's fourth eve. july 3rd. you would usually expect it to be a sleepy news day. what have we learned about the eve of things in this trump administration? like your typical friday night. holiday eve works the same way. this is another one of the day where is we had to take the show we were planning and ball it up and put it in the file that we just save for other days. these things do keep coming