A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked Northern California early Tuesday, jolting residents awake, damaging infrastructure and cutting off power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
At least two people suffered injuries in the earthquake that caused damage to buildings and roads around Humboldt County, located about 250 miles north of San Francisco, officials said.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 2:34 am PT in Pacific Ocean waters about 7.5 miles west of Ferndale at a depth of just over 16 miles. The city is about 19 miles south of Eureka, near the California and Oregon state line.
The USGS warned of “many” aftershocks coming in the wake of the quake, including some that could reach magnitude 4. More than two dozen aftershocks were recorded on the USGS website, most of which were less than magnitude 4.
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The National Weather Service’s tsunami warning system reported there was no tsunami threat associated with the earthquake, which was the strongest earthquake the area has seen in years.
“Check gas and water lines for damages or leaks. Exercise caution if traveling,” the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services tweeted just after 6:30 am PT.
Roads, homes damaged around Humboldt County, California
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office announced reports of damage to homes and roads throughout the county, which has a population of about 136,000 people,
Two injuries were confirmed, sheriff’s information specialist Samantha Karges told USA TODAY. Multiple other injuries were reported but were awaiting confirmation, Karges said.
Officials also reported at least two structure collapses involving entrapment where crews rescued people. Details regarding those incidents were not immediately available.
The victims whose injuries were confirmed were expected to recover, Karges said.
In addition to Ferndale, most of the destruction took place in Rio Dell, Fortuna and Scotia in the Eel River Valley, she said.
As of about 9 a.m. PT, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reported tens of thousands of customers without power in the area. In Humboldt County alone, where Ferndale is located, more than 71,000 people were in the dark.
The City of Eureka set up a “charging center” at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium where residents affected by power outages could charge their devices Tuesday.
The city also announced that its water supply is safe and was not affected by the earthquake. But some gas leaks were also reported throughout the county.
PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado told USA TODAY the utility company has initiated its emergency response plan and that crews were responding to gas and electrical hazards in Humboldt County following the earthquake and aftershocks.
“Our assessment could take several days,” Tostado said. “All customers are urged to use extreme caution around heavily damaged buildings.”
A news conference was set for 11 am PT, Governor Gavin Newsom’s office tweeted.
‘I’ve never felt anything like that in my life’
Diana McIntosh, 69, said the tremor woke her up inside her home in an apartment complex in central Humboldt County.
“It felt like north and south rocked back and forth, and it kept getting bigger and bigger. I heard banging, things crashing and glass shattering,” said McIntosh, who lives alone in her apartment off the freeway near the Pacific Ocean.
McIntosh, who said she has lived in the Eureka area for 65 years, called it the biggest earthquake she’s ever experienced.
“I was screaming,” she said. “The way that it shook … I’ve never felt anything like that in my life.”
McIntosh said her home, where some furniture was not anchored to the walls, sustained damage.
“My water is brown. There is no electricity. It’s 60 degrees in my apartment and dropping,” she said.
A photo posted online by the California Department of Transportation showed State Route 211 which connects Ferndale with US 101, buckled from the earthquake. The Ferndale Fire Department reported other roads were also closed in the area due to damage including Blue Slide Road, which runs parallel to US 101, a major north-to-south highway, stretching from Los Angeles to Washington state.
Another area resident, Caroline Titus of Ferndale, posted on Twitter, “The north/south shaking is very evident in what fell. This was our coffee station. Sorry for dark video. Power still out.”
Earthquake among the strongest in recent memory
Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake could be the most significant to hit California since July 2019, when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Ridgecrest area in Southern California, according to the state Department of Conservation. A 6.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded about 100 miles offshore near Ferndale in 2016.
In Northern California, the last notable earthquake was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck offshore in the Cape Mendocino area in December 2021.
Tuesday’s quake came just days after a small magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area, waking up thousands of people at 3:39 am Saturday and causing minor damage.
That tremor was centered in El Cerrito, about a 16-mile drive to downtown San Francisco.
It also comes on the heels of a magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattling the San Francisco Bay Area in late October. No one was injured in that incident. The earthquake happened on the Calaveras Fault, one of eight major faults in the Bay Area and a branch of the San Andreas Fault line.
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What was the biggest earthquake in US history?
The biggest earthquake in modern history took place on March 27, 1964, when an earthquake of magnitude 9.2 took place in the Prince William Sound region of Alaska.
According to the USGS, the earthquake rupture started about 15.5 miles below the surface, with its epicenter about 6 miles east of the mouth of College Fiord and 75 miles east of Anchorage.
It is also the second largest earthquake ever recorded, next to the magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1960.
Contributing: Associated Press