RIO DELL, Calif. — A powerful earthquake that residents described as “violent” rocked a rural stretch of the Northern California coast early Tuesday, leaving 11 people injured and 70,000 without power as a rain storm was about to roll in, officials said.
The magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurred at 2:34 a.m. near Ferndale, a small community about 210 miles (345 kilometers) northwest of San Francisco and close to the Pacific coast. The epicenter was just offshore at a depth of about 10 miles (16 kilometers). Numerous aftershocks followed.
Though the region, part of California’s lightly populated, forested far north coast, is prone to earthquakes, residents described the incident as particularly jarring.
Eureka resident Dan Dixon, 40, said he and his wife were sleeping when it jolted them awake and shook everything, throwing pictures in their home to the ground. Their infant daughter, he said, slept through it.
“It was probably the most violent earthquake we have felt in the 15 years I have lived here,” he said. “It physically moved our bed.”
There was “some damage” to buildings and infrastructure in Humboldt County, and two hospitals in the area lost power and were running on generators, but the scale of the damage appeared to be “minimal” compared to the strength of the quake, according to Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The region is home to redwood forests, mountains, a port and a state university. Long before the state legalized marijuana, Humboldt was part of the three-county Emerald Triangle where clandestine cannabis production was legendary.
Approximately 11 people were reported as injured, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said in an early afternoon statement. Officials noted there were two deaths as result of “medical emergencies” during or just after the quake.
Damage was mostly focused on the small communities of Rio Dell, Ferndale and Fortuna, Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci said during a news conference in Sacramento.
Ghilarducci did not have specifics on the extent of damage to structures and infrastructure, saying assessments were still underway. That included the number of homes that might be damaged badly enough to displace residents, he said.
“This is another example of the fact that earthquakes can occur at any time without notice,” he said.
Authorities closed an important bridge in Ferndale that was damaged. The state highway department tweeted a photo showing crumpled pavement.