Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes northern California

 

According to Reuters the tremor, which struck at 2:30 a.m. PST and was followed by about 80 aftershocks, was centered 215 miles (350 km) north of San Francisco offshore of Humboldt County, a largely rural area known for its redwood forests, local seafood, lumber industry and dairy farms.

 

The region also is known for relatively frequent seismic activity, although the latest quake appeared to cause more disruption than others in recent years.

 

Tuesday’s temblor set off one structure fire – by severing the gas line of a hot-water heater – and caused at least two other buildings to collapse, authorities said. The blaze was quickly extinguished, and fire crews rescued a resident briefly trapped in the home, according to fire officials.

 

About two dozen houses were so heavily damaged as to be “red-tagged,” declared unsafe for habitation. Most were in Rio Dell, a town of about 3,400 residents that bore the brunt of the quake, read the report.

 

Water service to the entire community was knocked out, and City Manager Kyle Knopp said he expected 100 to 150 residents would likely end up displaced once housing inspectors had assessed all the structural damage there.

 

Some 79,000 homes and businesses countywide were without power in the quake’s immediate aftermath, according to the electric grid tracking website PowerOutage.us.

 

Fire officials said dispatchers fielded roughly 70 emergency calls after the quake, read the report.

 

Details of casualties were sketchy. The two fatalities involved individuals, one aged 72, the other 83, who suffered medical emergencies that coincided with the quake, preventing rescue teams from reaching them in time to render life-saving care, said Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal.

 

Most of the 12 survivors known to have sought medical care got themselves to hospitals and sustained relatively minor injuries, many from fallen objects. Two of the most serious cases were a head injury and a broken hip, officials said.

 

Authorities reported at least four Humboldt County roads shut down due to earthquake damage.

 

California’s earthquake early warning system sent electronic alerts to the mobile devices of some 3 million northern California residents 10 seconds before the first shaking was even felt, said state emergency chief Mark Ghilarducci.

 

While earthquakes are routine in California, tremors at a magnitude 6.4 are less common and potentially dangerous.

 

Shaking from Tuesday’s quake was felt as far away as the San Francisco Bay area, the US Geological Survey reported. The biggest aftershock registered a magnitude 4.6, Reuters reported.