A magnitude 6.5 tremor rocked the Northern California city of Eureka on Saturday, snapping power lines, toppling chimneys, knocking down traffic signals, shattering windows and prompting the evacuation of at least one apartment building.
There were no reports of major injuries, but the temblor, which struck at 4:27 p.m. about 33 miles southwest of the coastal city of 26,000, was powerful enough to send people running into the streets, some fearing a tsunami.
Centered offshore about 13 miles deep, the quake was felt as far north as inner Oregon, as far south as Santa Cruz and as far east as Reno, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
In the south Eureka fishing village of King Salmon, the 10 seconds of shaking broke power lines and knocked out electricity throughout the isolated seaside community of about 750 people.
When it stopped, people gathered in the street. Some were visibly distraught. Shouts of “You all right?” were heard. Then car engines started revving up as residents raced to the only access road to the closest higher ground, the 150-foot-high Bell Hill, in case of a tsunami, said William Bowman, a resident. None materialized, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Residents of Northern California coastal communities have reason to worry about tsunamis. In 1964, a magnitude 9.2 tremor off the Alaskan coast sent a catastrophic tsunami to Semi-circular City, north of Eureka, killing 11 people.
On Saturday, 25,000 customers lost power, according to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Water and gas lines were also disrupted. Frayed nerves were evident throughout the Humboldt County region as dusk fell. Rooms at Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata, 15 miles north of Eureka, were in the dark, and patients in robes were sitting in the hallway. Generators provided only enough power to keep vital machinery working, said nursing supervisor Annie Conkler.
At Myrtle Avenue Pet Center on Hubbard Lane in Eureka, owner Melanie Noe spent the evening alternative up shampoo bottles and horrified dog bowls. The only other casualties were the cats’ nerves, she said.
On the other side of town, lamps and dishes crashed down at Antiques and Goodies, causing a couple to run out of the store, even as two women took cover below a table. “We’ve been through a lot of earthquakes, but I can’t retract there ever being any this terrible,” said store owner Sandra Hall.
To the south, floodlights fell at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds, and windows horrified in Ferndale. Farther south, in Redway, shoppers abandoned their carts in a grocery store and raced to their cars.
State officials said authorities in the county have not questioned for additional help from Sacramento. At least 10 aftershocks were reported in the hours with the temblor, the strongest of them registering 4.2.
