LOS ANGELES—A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday in the California desert about 150 miles (241 km) northeast of Los Angeles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the quake, which hit in a sparsely populated area near the Mojave Desert community of Searles Valley.
A series of strong of earthquakes and aftershocks struck that area near the small town of Ridgecrest on July 4 and 5 of last year. Such quakes are not uncommon in seismically active California.
By Dan Whitcomb
