RIO DELL, Calif. — At least two people died, nearly a dozen were injured and dozens were displaced Tuesday as California’s North Shore — a rugged and remote stretch of redwood country overlooking the Pacific Ocean — worked to turn from a 6.4 to recover -earthquakes.
The powerful shock in the cold darkness at 2:34 a.m. Pacific Time damaged bridges and roads, collapsed walls and smokestacks, and cut power to more than 70,000 utility customers in Humboldt County. By evening, power had been restored to about half of those customers, but about 34,000 were still without power, according to Pacific Gas and Electric, and some parts of the county were left without running water and major transportation routes.
The quake struck just offshore, about 12 miles west of the community of Ferndale and more than 200 miles north of San Francisco, in a seismically active region. Exactly one year ago, the same area was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake. More than 50 aftershocks followed Tuesday’s earthquake, including a large one measuring 4.6 magnitude about five minutes later, according to the US Geological Survey.
William F. Honsal, the Humboldt County sheriff and chief of emergency services, said at least two people, ages 72 and 83, died because they suffered medical crises around the time of the earthquake and could not be reached quickly by emergency responders .
Among the damaged roads is the one that crosses Fernbridge, a historic multiple-arch bridge over the Eel River that is the main route for Ferndale residents to Eureka, the county’s largest city. The bridge was closed early Tuesday and photos showed a billowing crack had formed in the road nearby.
In Rio Dell, an old logging community about 10 miles southeast of Ferndale that the sheriff dubbed “ground zero” because of the effects of the earthquake, city manager Kyle Knopp said 15 homes were already deemed uninhabitable due to earthquake damage, and the inspectors said continued to study structures. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Humboldt County officials declared a state of emergency to expedite aid.
Mr Knopp, who estimated that up to 150 of the community’s 3,300 residents would be displaced by the time inspections were completed, also said the city may not be able to provide tap water until Wednesday at the earliest.
“It’s been a tough day,” said Greg Allen, the Rio Dell Police Chief. “This shock hit us pretty hard.”
Witnesses, many of whom had previously experienced severe earthquakes, said Tuesday’s quake felt unusually strong, leading to horrific moments when they were jolted awake.
At Rio Dell, Kirstin Collins, 32, said she was woken up by a violent rattle and immediately thought of her 8-year-old son Liam, who was sleeping on the opposite side of the house. Her husband, Johnnie Collins, 30, ran to fetch Liam in the dark and cut his feet on broken objects on the ground, she said.
A dresser fell on her bed and a fallen mirror almost barricaded her in the room, she said. The home’s water heater broke and a broken pipe flooded the laundry room where the family dog slept.
“I honestly didn’t think I was going to leave the house,” Ms Collins said hours later as she assessed the aftermath of the quake in the rain. As day grew, she said, she found more damage both inside and outside the home and wondered how she would feed her son, charge her phone or find shelter.
“We have nothing,” she said. “Everything is broken in our house and we don’t know where to go or what to do.”
Another Rio Dell resident, Joe Filyau, 59, said he’s experienced other earthquakes before but “never felt one so strongly.”
The “earth just banged up and down,” he said.
A tile from the countertop in his newly renovated kitchen fell off the wall, he said, and he had to turn off the water after a pipe burst and water sprayed under his house.
“Everything in the house is just everywhere,” he said.
But Mr Filyau had more pressing concerns: His 87-year-old mother, Beverly, is dependent on oxygen, and he didn’t know how long her gas-powered generator would be running to power her oxygen machine. All of the nearby gas stations were closed, so he planned to drive to Ferndale in the hopes that a gas station there would be powered and operational.
In the town of Fortuna, five miles east of Ferndale, local traders said Tuesday’s quake was even stronger than that of December 20 in the same area. By dawn, many people were already busy sweeping up broken glass on the sidewalks.
Kathy Comerer, owner of Fortuna Fabrics and Crafts, said the earthquake destroyed seven of her storefronts, “a record”. Nearby, the smell of alcohol wafted from a Beverage Plus store, its floor littered with smashed liquor bottles. Pharmacy owner Robert Johnson said his storefront is only intact because he installed sturdier windows after a previous earthquake.
About a 15-minute drive away, Daniel Zingale, a retired state political strategist who now lives on eight acres of redwood forest, said the quake startled his two donkeys, Niño and Pinto; had his cat Macaroni submerged; and had knocked a statue of the Virgin Mary from a manger onto the mantelpiece. But otherwise, he said, his cabin escaped without serious damage.
“It’s very dark here at night and very quiet and all of a sudden the house was rocking and rolling,” Mr Zingale said. “A large mirror fell off the wall and we didn’t even hear it because the sound of the tremor was so loud.”
Boutiques in Ferndale, a small town of 1,350, had merchandise strewn across their floors. Valley Grocery’s windows were smashed and signs read “Cash Only” because the power was out while patrons shopped for essentials in the dark. Susie Klatt, an employee of Ring’s Pharmacy, said the quake left not only her workplace but also her vacation home adorned with rubble and damage.
“I’m a big Christmas person, so three trees fell down,” she said. “Santa Clauses everywhere.”
The most recent and most recent earthquake occurred in a region where three of the major crustal plates meet. Known as the Mendocino Triple Junction, it is an area of high seismic activity, averaging about 80 magnitude 3 or greater earthquakes per year.
Along most of the California coast, the Pacific Plate is slowly sliding northwest past the North American Plate. This leads to the San Andreas Fault and other large faults that occasionally cause large earthquakes.
In the northernmost part of the coast, however, a third plate, the Gorda – part of a larger plate called Juan de Fuca – comes into play. At this triple junction, the Gorda slides under the North American Plate, a process called subduction, and simultaneously slides past the Pacific Plate, creating a fault called the Mendocino Transform. The combination of these different stresses leads to the large number of earthquakes in the region.
Kitty Bennett contributed to the research. Ollie Hancock contributed reports from Ferndale, California, Henry Fountain from Albuquerque, and Jacey Fortin from New York.
