As first responders continue to assess the extent of damage from two significant earthquakes on successive days near the Southern California town of Ridgecrest, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday requested a presidential emergency declaration for direct federal assistance to further support the communities impacted by the earthquakes.

A 6.4-magnitude quake hit Thursday morning, and a 7.1-magnitude occurred on Friday evening.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones said the first of the two major quakes was a foreshock to the larger one on Friday.

She also reported on Twitter that more than 3,000 quakes have so far occurred in what is called the “Searles Valley sequence.”

On Thursday, Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency. On the same day, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated the State Operations Center.

Gov. Newsom’s request to the president and federal emergency management agency for a presidential emergency declaration can be found here.