Pandemic, fires and now earthquakes: Many SoCal residents worry about 'the big one'

Since the beginning of the pandemic we haven’t really had a big earthquake, but Friday night many of us felt a big bump in the night.

The quake was felt over a wide swath of Southern California. Seismologist Jennifer Andrews at Cal Tech says that's because the 4.5 temblor was deep into the earth under El Monte.

Andrews says there have been seven aftershocks so far and that the quake was unrelated to the Monday morning shaker in the Riverside area.

Get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.

Nonetheless, it's still on our minds because of the power of the jolt which was magnified because of its depth. Robert DeGroot with The US Geological Survey says, “Friday’s earthquake was 10 miles deep. It, actually took about three seconds for the seismic waves to reach the surface.”

In Southern California, we have quakes all the time. You just don’t feel them. They're too small.

RELATED: Surviving the earthquake: Prepare, Survive, RecoverUSGS provides information about earthquakes by state and preparedness information, including helpful information for those in California.

But, when you feel the movement social media goes haywire!

 On Facebook, Ericka Murillo told FOX 11, "It felt like this; I ended up with a dislocated elbow and a fracture from losing my balance after my granddaughter got scared and jump on me when we were sitting on my bed watching Charlie Brown.” 

Sue Foukes wrote: "I get so nervous with the quakes I always think it's going to be the big one." 

Sharon Trainer said: "I was thinking it could be a foreshock, but I hope it's not. The shaker we had on Friday was felt very hard here in City of Commerce, I started screaming! I've experienced every major earthquake since the Sylmar when I was 6 years old, and I'm still terrified of them!" 

One of the big questions on social media, especially from California newcomers, is whether any of these quakes are foreshocks of greater ones.

Not yet according to seismologists.

RELATED: Quakes push Californians to prepare for the next big jolt

Andrews says that usually happens within 24 to 48 hours of the main jolt. July 4th, 2019 in Ridgecrest there was a big 6.4 quake.

That one was a foreshock of a later 7.1 the next day. 

Meanwhile, in our FOX 11 Special "Surviving an Earthquake: Prepare, Survive, Recover, earthquake expert Lucy Jones reminded us of the importance of planning.

She said, "The earthquake is inevitable. It absolutely will happen we just don’t know when.”

She added, "We are making choices right now about how we build our homes and how we secure things in our homes that will determine how life is going to be afterward.”

 In this weekend's FOX 11 News In Depth, which airs Sunday at noon on our sister station MY13, Jillian Robertson with the Red Cross tells us that besides earthquake kits a go-bag is important for any disaster.

There is the usual stuff... water, masks, flashlight, batteries and, of all things, a crowbar!

She says, "When there’s an earthquake in Los Angeles one of the things you might not think about is when an earthquake hits your house can have jammed doors."

"So," says Robertson, "having something like a crowbar is really going to be important to get out.”

In the meantime, everyone says be prepared!

You never know when the ground will move. But, you can always count on FOX 11 to bring you the latest when it does!