Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti gave a press conference on Wednesday evening, where he addressed the protests against police brutality and racism that had swept the country in connection with the death of African-American George Floyd.
Garcetti announced an extension to the city’s curfew, while acknowledging it would be the last, unless setbacks were registered, as Tuesday night was characterised as more peaceful than previous nights. As he spoke of “reinvesting in black communities and communities of colour”, and announced $250 million in cuts to the proposed budget to reallocate the funds to presumably black communities 'of colour', “so we can invest in jobs, in education and healing”, the mayor mentioned he had been informed of a large earthquake hitting Ridgecrest, California, adding “as if things couldn’t get any worse”.
The Mayor pretty much sums it up right now in LA. #earthquake pic.twitter.com/xGgVEzzRO4
— Niall Dalton (IRE) (@Stakeshorses) June 4, 2020
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake had been registered near Ridgecrest, about 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles, according to the US Geological Survey; the tremor was felt across Southern California.
Netizens were quick to swoop in on the perceived sarcasm in the mayor’s statement, as they posted comments reflecting their personal reaction to the events dominating the start of 2020, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the protests and violence triggered by the death of George Floyd.
2020 summed up 😂😩
— 🌸 (@_laassssss) June 4, 2020
— 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚛𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚛 | BLM (@ProjectGenesi12) June 4, 2020
Lol. Earthquakes, locusts, murder hornets, corona, Trump. I mean..I got nothin’. Really, there’s just nothing else to say at this point. In a few months it’ll be Nor’Easters and that’ll be the icing on the cake.
— (((Maggie))) (@maggieogs) June 4, 2020
Is GOD pissed?
— S Holland (@sdaia60) June 4, 2020
Things can always be worse, that's wha the #bible tells us.
— The future is Bright! (@WayneLambright) June 4, 2020
Soooo a pandemic, a war almost starting, riots, international tension, an earthquake, and etc. happens and we're just supposed to act like everything's fine? pic.twitter.com/cZJQk4hkzq
— 🌸iiPastelMask🌸 (@PastelMask) June 4, 2020
Many expressed their sympathy towards the mayor.
Poor guy he’s like wtf now haha 😂
— A$AP Pansi🍾 (@champagnepansi) June 4, 2020
I felt his internal sigh. Lol I did the same thing sitting on my couch! Freaking earthquakes!
— JFlo (@magicmashyhands) June 4, 2020
Others on social media commented that the upheavals in the country would put most “disaster” movies to shame.
Omg 😆 the way he just said it - “ We just had an earthquake if things couldn’t get any worse” 😜
— Page ⁷ aka Karen ⟬⟭ Dancing w/BTS ⟭⟬ (@BootlegLady) June 4, 2020
And then there is Yellowstone. It’s big enough that if it blows, pretty much the entire country; along with a lot of the world will be either destroyed or altered.
— Sheri (@Sheri42537476) June 4, 2020
I hear reports of Murder Hornets inbound to LA! pic.twitter.com/BMVogx2uqD
— Brian Flay (@FlayBrian) June 4, 2020
june: major earthquakes
— Axel Hernandez (@_jk_axel) June 4, 2020
There’s a big astroid coming at us pretty soon here…
— Oregonemom #NotDyingForWallStreet 🏡✍️ (@Oregonemom) June 4, 2020
At this point nobody’s gonna be surprised when aliens show up
— ninja (@gamereaper117) June 4, 2020
Lol some of us just gonna be ready to hop in the ufo and take off
The 5.5 tremor that shook Ridgecrest was centred approximately 10 miles south of Searles Valley in the Mojave Desert around 6:32 p.m, and was felt by people in Los Angeles County, in Orange County, and as far as San Diego. No damages were reported.
In the opinion of seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, the quake was an aftershock of the Ridgecrest earthquake, which had a 6.4 foreshock on 4 July 2019 followed by a 7.1 mainshock one day later.
Yes, an earthquake. A M5.5 at the very southern end of the 2019 Ridgecrest aftershock zone. This is a large late aftershock - do you remember that I said these are common?
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) June 4, 2020
According to Dr. Jones, even though the Ridgecrest earthquake was nearly one year ago, aftershocks this late are normal.
