A rural section of Northern California was shaken by its most powerful earthquake since 1940 on Wednesday morning. While the event caused a number of injuries, officials have not received any immediate reports of major structural damage.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the preliminary magnitude of the earthquake was 5.6. The epicenter was located approximately 7 miles (12 kilometers) northwest of the agricultural town of Willits at a depth of about 5 miles (8 kilometers). The seismic activity, which occurred at 8:10 a.m. PT, was felt across a wide area, reaching as far as the coastal city of Fort Bragg. This region in Mendocino County, known for its small agricultural communities, is situated 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Mendocino County spokesperson Heather Rose confirmed that hospitals had documented some injuries, although the specific nature and severity of those cases remain unclear. Officials are scheduled to convene later in the day to provide further updates as more information becomes available.<\/p>\n
The Mendocino County Executive Office reported that more than 6,000 residents across six towns near the epicenter are currently facing power outages. Authorities have urged the public to avoid using local highways and roads to allow inspection crews to assess the infrastructure and complete necessary repairs.<\/p>\n
For those living near the epicenter, the impact was immediate. Brie Leon, a worker at Club Calpella Restaurant in Calpella\u2014a town roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the epicenter\u2014described the moment the shaking started. She noted that after turning on the restaurant’s signage and heading to the kitchen, the building began to rattle violently, knocking plates and bottles off shelves and frames off the walls. Despite the mess, she and her colleagues soon began cleaning up to prepare for business.<\/p>\n
Veteran California seismologist Lucy Jones noted that this was the region’s largest earthquake in nearly 90 years. She explained that while the area experiences smaller tremors, this event was unusual as it did not occur on a major fault line. She added that while aftershocks are expected, they are likely to remain relatively minor. Following the main event, three additional quakes under magnitude 2.7 occurred near the epicenter within the hour.<\/p>\n
Further away in Kelseyville, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the epicenter, Alan Harris felt the quake while at home. He described the experience as frightening, noting that his house shook for roughly 30 seconds. His security camera captured the sound of crashing items on the third floor, though he later confirmed there was no major structural damage to his home.<\/p>\n
Public safety response was active, with the California Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services reporting that nearly 657,000 early warning alerts were delivered via the MyShake App across Northern California. Robert de Groot of the ShakeAlert operations team noted that when including other public safety systems, the total number of alerts delivered would likely exceed one million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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