Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake Leaves Tens of Thousands Without Power, Kills 2 in Northern California

Northern California was rocked by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that caused tens of thousands of residents to lose power and resulted in the death of at least two people.

The quake that struck Eureka on Tuesday was recorded at 2:34 a.m. PT and was centered in the Pacific just off the coast, roughly 7.5 miles from the Humboldt County city of Ferndale. Local authorities also warned residents to prepare for potential aftershocks as damage assessments continued across the region.

Northern California Earthquake

Fortunately, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that there was currently no tsunami threat associated with the earthquake. Some cities have also opted to urge people to boil water as clean-up and recovery efforts continue.

Boil water advisories were put out by the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services for the cities of Rio Dell and Fortunate, specifically the Forest Hills subdivision. Authorities put out the advisories in conjunction with several other county agencies, including the health department.

County officials are recommending that everyone in the affected areas should boil water for at least a minute before using it for drinking or cooking. On Tuesday, there were at least 80 aftershocks reported following the main tremor, as per CNN.

California Governor's Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said that the largest aftershocks were felt in Rio Dell. The quake caused 68% of customers in Humboldt County to be without power.

There were 67,777 customers experiencing outages as of 2:00 p.m. PT, according to data by poweroutage.us. This was a drop from the 71,000 who were left in the dark earlier Tuesday morning shortly after the earthquake.

First Quake-Related Fatalities Since 2019

According to Reuters, on top of the two fatalities, there were also 11 people injured due to the magnitude 6.4 earthquake. Due to the tremor, one structure was set on fire, which officials quickly extinguished, while two others collapsed, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said.

The department added that its dispatchers fielded 70 emergency calls after the tremor, including one report of a person who was trapped and needed rescuing, said spokesperson Tran Beyea. There was also one child who survived with a head injury and an older individual who suffered a broken hip.

Law enforcement personnel closed off a bridge crossing the Eel River into Ferndale after four massive cracks were found in the span of the bridge. Furthermore, the California Highway Patrol said that the roadway foundation was at risk of sliding.

Four other roads in Humboldt County were reportedly closed due to damage caused by the earthquake and a possible gas line rupture was under investigation. The Highway Patrol said that one section of the roadway was sinking.

The fatalities reported on Tuesday mark the first deaths related to an earthquake in California since one death in 2019 after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked the city of Ridgecrest. The two deaths were reported to be elderlies aged 72 and 83 years old, said Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, USA Today reported.

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Northern California, California earthquake