A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck California’s extreme north coast before dawn Tuesday, damaging homes, roads and water systems and leaving tens of thousands without power. According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, at least 11 people were injured and two others died as a result of “medical emergencies” that occurred during or just after the earthquake. The temblor, which struck at 2:30 a.m. PST and was followed by about 80 aftershocks, was centered 215 miles (350 km) north of San Francisco on the coast of Humboldt County, a largely rural area known for its redwood forests, local seafood and lumber. industry and dairy farms.
The area is also known for fairly frequent seismic activity, although the latest earthquake seems to have caused more disruption than others in recent years. Tuesday’s tremor started a fire at one structure that was quickly extinguished and caused the collapse of two other buildings, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said. The department said its dispatchers received 70 emergency calls after the earthquake, including one report of a trapped person needing rescue, spokesman Tran Beyea said. Details of casualties related to the quake were sketchy, but one surviving victim was a child with a head injury and the other an elderly person with a broken hip, according to local media reports citing the sheriff’s office.
Police closed the Eel River Bridge
Police closed the Eel River Bridge into Ferndale, a quaint town known for its Victorian storefronts and gingerbread-style houses, after four large cracks were discovered in the span. The California Highway Patrol also said the road’s base is at risk of a landslide. Authorities said at least four other roads in Humboldt County were closed due to earthquake damage and a possible ruptured gas line that is under investigation. The Highway Patrol said one section of the roadway was reportedly sinking. Ferndale and the nearby towns of Fortuna and Rio Dell appeared the hardest hit, with damage including water main breaks and about two dozen homes red-tagged because they were too unstable to safely inhabit, state emergency officials said.
“The shaking was really intense,” said Daniel Holsapple, 33, a resident of nearby Arcata, who recounted how he grabbed his cat and ran outside after being awakened in the pitch black by the house moving and an emergency signal from his cell phone. . “It was impossible to see what was happening. It was just the feeling and the general low rumbling sound of the foundation vibrations of the whole house,” he said. Janet Calderon, 32, who lives in the nearby town of Eureka, said she was already awake and noticed her two cats looked upset moments before the earthquake struck and shook her bedroom “really hard” in the second deluge. “Everything on my desk fell off,” she said.
6.4-magnitude earthquakes tremors
California’s earthquake early warning system appeared to be working, sending electronic alerts to mobile devices to about 3 million Northern California residents 10 seconds before the first rumble, state emergency chief Mark Ghilarducci said. While earthquakes that cause noticeable shaking are routine in California, 6.4-magnitude tremors are less common and potentially dangerous, causing buildings to partially collapse or structures to shift from their foundations.
Tuesday’s temblor struck in a seismically active area where several tectonic plates converge on the sea floor about 2 miles offshore, an area that has produced about 40 6.0- to 7.0-magnitude quakes over the past century, said Cynthia Pridmore, head geologist for the California Geological Survey. About 79,000 homes and businesses were without power in Ferndale and surrounding Humboldt County shortly after the quake, according to power monitoring website PowerOutage.us.
