The Northern California town of Eureka and the surrounding areas were rocked by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake.
Reports indicate the quake occurred at 2:34 a.m. on Tuesday and much of the damage was in the Ferndale area. It is about 210 miles northwest of San Francisco and along the Pacific coast. The epicenter of the earthquake was just offshore; at a depth of about 10 miles. Newspapers have stated that 80 or more aftershocks followed. The most powerful aftershock registered as a 4.6. There are reports that shock the city of Rio Dell.
The epicenter was estimate to be at El Cerrito. It is a community about 16-miles from downtown San Francisco.
Mark Ghilarducci, the director of California’s Office of Emergency Services, spoke with reporters near noon Pacific Time.
“We live in earthquake country and this another example of the fact that earthquakes can happen at anytime without notice,” NBC News reports. “And so it’s really important that we, as Californians, have a plan, have a family plan, have some supplies in case we lose power.”
Two injuries were reported; thankfully both are expected to recover. There was also damage to buildings and infrastructure — with two hospitals running on generators. According to experts in the area, were pleased that the scale of the damage was not in line with the strength of the quake.
There was signifiant disruption to basic services.
“Power is out across the county,” the Humboldt County’s Office of Emergency Services said in a tweet. It added, “DO NOT CALL 911 UNLESS YOU ARE EXPERIENCING AN IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY.”
According to Associated Press reports, the county of 136,000 residents has a long history of large earthquakes. It has endured a magnitude 7.0 in 1980 and a 6.8 in 2014.
