A earthquake of magnitude 6.4 shook the north of Californiaand plunged more than half of the hardest-hit county into darkness.
The quake, which was reported at 2:34 a.m. local time Tuesday, had a depth of 10 miles (16 km) and was centered 7.5 miles (12 km) southwest of Ferndale, Humboldt County, 130 miles (209 km) north of San Francisco, according to the USGS (US Geological Survey).
After the quake, at least two aftershocks of magnitude 4.6 and magnitude 3.1 followed.
No injuries have been reported so far and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) of the United States reported that there is no current tsunami threat.
More than half of Humboldt County lost power as a result of the earthquake. 52.7% of the area’s 99,000 customers were left in the dark at 3:10 a.m., according to poweroutage.uswhich keeps track of public services.
A woman posted on Twitter that the power had gone out in the Ferndale area and that his house had been left in “a mess” by the quake.
“Was big. Now there is no electricity in #ferndaleca. The house is a mess. #earthquake”, he tweeted along with a video showing the destruction inside his home.
A resident in nearby Sacramento said the USGS Shake Alert app alerted him to the quake and he noticed the blinds in his home were shaking.
“The application alarm has been activated @USGS_ShakeAlertand warned that tremors were expected here in Sacramento del #earthquake in Eureka. I didn’t feel it, but my blinds did,” she said.
California State Senator Mike McGuire tweeted that he was in contact with PG&E power company and emergency management, and that the state stands ready to help people in need.
“We are in contact with the Emergency Management officials in Humboldt along with PG&E,” he said.
“The earthquake It was significant…from a magnitude of 6.1 to 6.3. The aftershocks continue. There is no tsunami threat at this time. The state stands ready to provide all necessary assistance.”
The USGS activated its Shake Alert system for those who live in the affected areas.
“The earthquake was big enough to trigger alerts pushed by #ShakeAlert to cell phones by the Wireless Emergency Alert System of the @femathe agency tweeted.
“We hope that everyone is safe and that if they felt tremors or received an alert, they have taken the protective measure of Duck, Cover and Hold.”
The quake came just three days after the San Francisco Bay Area was hit by a magnitude 3.6 quake.
That quake was felt early Saturday morning in the East Bay area, northeast of El Cerrito, near Oakland.
California is susceptible to many earthquakes, in part due to the fact that the San Andreas fault runs through the state.
The fault, a boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate that extends about 1,200 km (746 mi) through California, is one of the world’s most active fault zones.
In addition to California, other parts of the US have also faced significant earthquakes in recent weeks.
Last week, Texas was rocked by the fourth strongest earthquake in the state’s history, when a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Midland in the western part of the state late Friday.
A minor aftershock also followed that quake, but no significant damage or injuries were reported.
It marked the second moderate earthquake to strike the area in as many months after a magnitude 5.3 quake struck 95 miles (153 km) west of Midland on November 16.
