Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes northern California, leaves tens of thousands without power - Reuters

RIO DELL, Calif., Dec 20 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the utmost bluish seashore of California earlier dawn connected Tuesday, injuring astatine slightest 2 people, damaging roads, bridges and powerfulness lines and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without electricity.

The tremor, which struck astatine 2:30 a.m. PST and was followed by much than 3 twelve aftershocks, was centered 215 miles (350 km) northbound of San Francisco offshore of Humboldt County, a mostly agrarian country known for its redwood forests, section seafood, lumber manufacture and dairy farms.

The portion besides is known for comparatively predominant seismic activity, though the latest quake appeared to origin much disruption than others successful caller years.

Tuesday's temblor acceptable disconnected 1 operation fire, which was rapidly extinguished, and caused 2 different buildings to collapse, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

The section said its dispatchers fielded 70 exigency calls aft the quake, including 1 study of a idiosyncratic near trapped who needed rescuing, spokesperson Tran Beyea said.

The region sheriff's bureau reported 2 radical injured adjacent the quake's epicenter, wherever harm to homes and roads was widespread. One of those victims was a kid with a caput wounded and the different an older idiosyncratic with a breached hip, according to section media reports citing the sheriff's office.

There were nary contiguous authoritative reports of fatalities.

Police closed the main span crossing the Eel River into Ferndale, a picturesque municipality notable for its gingerbread-style Victorian storefronts and homes, aft 4 ample cracks were discovered successful the span. The California Highway Patrol besides said the roadway instauration determination was astatine hazard of sliding.

The road patrol reported astatine slightest 4 different roads successful Humboldt County closed owed to earthquake damage, and a imaginable state enactment rupture nether investigation. One conception of roadway was reportedly sinking, the bureau said.

"The shaking was truly intense," said Daniel Holsapple, 33, a nonmigratory of adjacent Arcata, who recounted grabbing his favored feline and moving extracurricular aft helium was jostled awake successful transportation acheronian by the question of the location and an exigency alert from his cellphone.

"There was nary seeing what was going on. It was conscionable the sensation and that wide debased rumbling dependable of the instauration of the full location vibrating," helium said.

Janet Calderon, 32, who lives successful the adjacent municipality of Eureka, said she was already awake and noticed her 2 cats seemed agitated moments earlier the quake struck, shaking her second-flood chamber "really hard."

"Everything connected my table fell over," she said.

While earthquakes producing noticeable shaking are regular successful California, tremors astatine a magnitude 6.4 are little commonplace and perchance dangerous, susceptible of causing important harm to buildings, specified arsenic a partial illness oregon the shifting of structures disconnected their foundations.

Weak shaking from Tuesday's quake, which occurred astatine the comparatively shallow extent of 11.1 miles (17.9 km) was felt arsenic acold distant arsenic San Francisco, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

About 5 earthquakes of magnitudes ranging from 6.0 to 7.0 are recorded annually successful California and Nevada, according to caller information cited by the Los Angeles Times.

Caroline Titus, the erstwhile exertion and steadfast of the Ferndale Enterprise, posted video connected Twitter of toppled furnishings and household items scattered connected the level of her Ferndale home.

"Sorry for acheronian video," she wrote. "Power inactive out."

Some 79,000 homes and businesses were without powerfulness successful Ferndale and surrounding Humboldt County, according to the electrical grid tracking website PowerOutage.us.

PG&E crews were retired assessing the utility's state and electrical strategy for immoderate harm and hazards, which could instrumentality respective days, institution spokesperson Karly Hernandez said.

Reporting by Rich McKay successful Atlanta, Brendan O'Brien successful Chicago, Laila Kearney successful New York City and Akriti Sharma successful Bengaluru; Writing and further reporting by Steve Gorman successful Los Angeles; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter, Lisa Shumaker and Richard Chang

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