A magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted Northern California people awake, damaged infrastructure, and cut electricity to thousands of homes and businesses.
No injuries were reported, but buildings and roads in Humboldt County, 250 miles north of San Francisco, were damaged.
The quake happened at 2:34 a.m. PT in the Pacific Ocean 7.5 miles west of Ferndale at a depth of 16 miles. Near the California-Oregon border, 19 miles south of Eureka.
After the 6.4 magnitude quake, the USGS warned of “several” aftershocks, some of magnitude 4. Most aftershocks were less than magnitude 4, according to USGS.
Gas leaks also occurred.
The National Weather Service’s tsunami warning system revealed no tsunami hazard early Tuesday morning after the largest earthquake in years.
“Check for gas and water leaks. Travel carefully, “After 6:30 a.m. PT, Humboldt County Emergency Services tweeted.
“Big mess” coming:
Winter storm brings snow, frigid temps, and travel headaches
“Road and home damage”
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reported property and road damage throughout the 136,000-person county.
PG&E reported tens of thousands of customers without power around 7:40 a.m. PT. More than 71,000 people in Ferndale’s county were without power.
State Route 211, which connects Ferndale to U.S. 101, buckled in a photo shared online by Caltrans. The Ferndale Fire Department said that several routes were closed due to damage, including Blue Slide Road, which runs parallel to U.S. 101 from Los Angeles to Washington state.
Residents posted pictures of home damage.
Caroline Titus of Ferndale tweeted about her 140-year-old Victorian. “What fell shows north/south shaking. Coffee station. Dark video, sorry. No power.”
Strongest quake in memory
Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake could be the biggest severe to hit California since July 2019, when a 7.1 magnitude quake rocked Ridgecrest. 2016 saw a 6.5 magnitude quake 100 miles off Ferndale.
A magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, waking up hundreds and causing minor damage.
El Cerrito is 16 miles from downtown San Francisco.
It follows a magnitude-5.1 earthquake in late October in the San Francisco Bay Area. Natural calamity caused no injuries. Calaveras Fault, one of eight major faults in the Bay Area and a branch of the San Andreas Fault, ruptured.
USGS records show that Tuesday’s early-morning quake was the largest in years. The last notable quake hit Northern California’s Cape Mendocino in December 2021.
This earthquake was located 210 miles northwest of San Francisco, near a little village called Petrolia.
What’s the largest US earthquake?
On March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
The tremor ruptured 15.5 miles below the surface, 6 miles east of College Fiord and 75 miles east of Anchorage, according to the USGS.
The 4.5-minute earthquake is the strongest in U.S. history. The 1960 Chilean earthquake of magnitude 9.5 was the largest ever recorded.
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