A powerful offshore earthquake struck near the Northern California coast yesterday afternoon, leaving reports of damage in many communities, but spared residents any serious injury. Power was mostly restored and phones were working again today in Humboldt County, where residents were cleaning up and checking for structural damage in the aftermath of the 6.5 earthquake thats struck at 4:27pm. More than a dozen aftershocks, some with magnitudes as powerful as 4.5, rumbled for several hours after the initial quake, which had a depth of nearly 10 miles. The quake was centered in the Pacific about 22 miles E of Ferndale, California. It was felt in towns more than 300 miles S into central California and as far north as central Oregon, the USGA said. Ferndale is about 240 miles N of San Francisco. Dozens of people suffered minor injuries and thousands lost power. In Eureka, N of Ferndale, residents of an apartment building were evacuated, and an office building and 2 other commercial structures in the town of about 26,000 people were declared unsafe for occupancy. State Transportation authorities said today there were no accidents or significant bridge damage attributed to the quake. This is the largest quake to occur in this region since the April 4, 1992 M7.2 Petrolia and the June 15, 2005 M7.2 Gorda plate earthquakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment