A strong earthquake has rattled a large swathe of southern California and parts of Nevada, causing some damage in a town near the epicentre amid a series of aftershocks.

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10.33am local time in the Mojave Desert, about 240km north-east of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest. It is the strongest quake to hit the region in 20 years.

Peggy Breeden, the mayor of Ridgecrest, a town of 28,000 people, said firefighters were working to put out five fires, at least one of them at a home.

Utility workers were assessing broken gas lines and turning off gas where necessary, she said.

She added the local senior centre was holding a July 4 event when the quake hit and everyone made it out shaken but without injuries.

“Oh, my goodness, there’s another one [quake] right now,” Ms Breeden said on live television as an aftershock struck.

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