A powerful earthquake jolted Humboldt County early Tuesday, leaving at least two people dead, tens of thousands without power and widespread damage in its aftermath.
Even in this seismically active region of Northern California known for large temblors, the 6.4 magnitude quake felt particularly violent to many longtime residents. Officials were still trying to tally the destruction hours later.
The force of the shaking shattered windows, sent objects flying and damaged at least one historic bridge in the small communities south of Eureka. At least 11 people were injured.
“It was the most intense earthquake that I’ve felt,” said Rio Dell Mayor Debra Garnes, whose hamlet was hard hit. “It was a long-duration earthquake, so it was not only significant in size at 6.4, it was also long.”
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, two people died as a result of medical emergencies during or just after the earthquake.
There was one fatality in Rio Dell during the earthquake, Garnes said, but it is unclear whether it was among the two deaths reported by the Sheriff’s Office.
A call came in during the earthquake about someone having difficulty breathing. The person went into cardiac arrest, and medics performed CPR, Garnes said. The person was taken to a hospital but did not survive.
The quake was reported at 2:34 a.m. just offshore about 7½ miles southwest of Ferndale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No tsunami was expected, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter, but the agency advised residents to prepare for aftershocks.
Ferndale, Fortuna and Rio Dell were among the hardest hit areas, Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Residents shared photos across social media of destroyed homes, with appliances and furniture toppled over, and tales of violently strong shakes, the strongest they’ve experienced in decades. Ghilarducci said the quake could be felt as far east as Redding and as far south as in the Bay Area.
“It wasn’t as large as it could have been, but still we have seen this one resulting in damage, both structural and nonstructural damage,” he said.
The earthquake battered homes, knocked some off their foundations, caused at least one structure fire, and damaged critical infrastructure such as water, power and gas lines. At one point Tuesday, about 71,000 people were without power, Ghilarducci said.
Pacific Gas & Electric tweeted Tuesday morning that it had “initiated its emergency response plan, and crews are responding to gas and electric hazards.”
Crews had restored power to about 40,000 customers, “more than half of those who experienced outages,” by Tuesday night, said Megan McFarland, a PG&E spokesperson.
Ghilarducci said the state sent out an early warning, a new system that pushed out an alert 10 seconds in advance of the earthquake’s shaking to some 3 million people in Northern California, giving residents the opportunity to drop, cover and hold or get to a place of safety.
“The system did operate as we had hoped, and that we’ve been working to design,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Humboldt County, granting it state disaster resources, requesting federal assistance and easing access to unemployment benefits.
The State Operations Center was activated to coordinate the emergency response with local and tribal governments, and provide any resources needed.
“Jennifer and I send our heartfelt condolences to the families grieving the loss of loved ones and offer our best wishes for the recovery of those who were injured in this earthquake,” Newsom said in a statement. “California stands with the people of Humboldt County and the state…
Read More: At least 2 dead after 6.4 earthquake in Northern California