The United States Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Eureka area of Northern California early on Tuesday morning. The quake woke at least two people up from their sleep, caused reports of damage to roads and homes, shook residents awake, and left tens of thousands of people without electricity.
The earthquake happened at 2:34 a.m. Pacific Standard Time in the Pacific Ocean about 15 miles from Fortuna, a community in Humboldt County, California, that has a population of approximately 12,000 people and is located on a portion of the Redwood Coast that is forested. Near Eureka, approximately 280 miles to the northwest of Sacramento, is where you’ll find Fortuna.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, at least two people have passed away “as a result of medical issues” during and after the earthquake. There were twelve people who were hurt.
According to Sheriff William F. Honsal of Humboldt County, even though there is now very little information available regarding the injuries, none of them are thought to be life-threatening. He noted that it was anticipated that there would be a greater number of injuries.
According to Honsal, the two people who passed away were a 72-year-old and an 83-year-old. Both of them had experienced medical issues at some point during the earthquake, but the emergency services were unable to reach them in a timely manner. As a result of Governor Gavin Newsom’s declaration of a state of emergency, Humboldt County is now eligible to receive assistance under the California Disaster Assistance Act, according to a statement issued by the governor’s office.
In a statement, Newsom expressed his condolences to the families who had lost loved ones and wished those who had been hurt in the earthquake a speedy recovery. “Jennifer and I send our heartfelt condolences to the families who are suffering the death of loved ones,” Newsom said.
According to the findings of the survey, there were over thirty dozen aftershocks in the region, with the strongest measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale. A quake of 6.2 magnitude struck just off of Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County on December 20, 2021, and caused some minor damage to structures in the surrounding area. Tuesday’s tremor comes exactly one year after that quake.
The majority of residences and commercial establishments in Humboldt County did not have power early on Tuesday. According to the utility outage tracker PowerOutage.us, as of approximately 1 p.m. Pacific Time (PT), there had been reports of nearly 70,000 power outages, out of a total of 99,000 consumers recorded in the county.
The city manager of Rio Dell, one of the cities that was affected by the earthquake, Kyle Knopp, stated that water and power are still out and that a boil notice has been issued for the county. According to a tweet posted by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning, “widespread devastation to roads and homes” was being reported over the entirety of the county. According to the sheriff’s office, at least two people were hurt in the incident.
“When the shaking had finally stopped, we got our flashlights and phones out and looked around,” she said. “There was no sign of anyone.” Pickett Monolias stated that everything was a complete and utter mess. Things that you would not have expected to fall over or shatter did.The entire cabinet in the restroom toppled over, and its contents were scattered across the floor.
According to a video that Caroline Titus uploaded on Twitter, the earthquake caused a lot of items in her home in the Ferndale neighbourhood to fall to the ground. “This was a significant win.” There is currently no power. “The house is in a terrible state,” Titus wrote.
According to a report by a CNN station, the tremor caused damage to a portion of the Fernbridge, which is located northeast of Ferndale and carries State Route 211 over the Eel River.
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A photograph that was tweeted by the California Department of Transportation showed that there were cracks in a portion of the roadway at the bridge. According to the tweet, “The bridge is blocked while we undertake safety inspections owing to the suspected damage caused by seismic activity.”
According to video captured by KRCR on a rainy Tuesday morning, several storefront windows were shattered in the downtown area of Fortuna, and people were seen putting up boards to repair the gaps created by the broken windows.
The primary quake was responsible for at least some shaking throughout the coast of Oregon and into southern California as far as San Jose, according to public reports gathered by the survey. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is no risk of a tsunami being caused by it.