California earth quake lines12/6/2023 ![]() It was the result of strike-slip faulting along either a southeast or southwest striking plane. It came exactly a year after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck onshore in the Cape Mendocino area on December 20, 2021, causing only minor damage. The earthquake measured 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale, and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII ( Severe). This tectonic boundary has been the cause of many earthquakes in the region, including the megathrust 1700 Cascadia earthquake, and the 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquakes, the latter of which measured 7.2. The Mendocino Fracture Zone marks the transform boundary between the Gorda and Pacific plates. Much of Northern California lies close to the boundaries between three tectonic plates, the Pacific Plate, the Gorda Plate and the North American Plate, which meet at the Mendocino Triple Junction. ![]() On December 20, 2022, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Ferndale, California in Humboldt County, United States at 10:34:25 UTC, or 2:34 a.m. With a population of about 136,000 residents, the county is home to more than 160,000 acres of coastal redwoods and encompasses 2.3 million acres of land, 80% of which is used for timberland and recreational purposes. Humboldt County is known for its dense forests, rural terrain, fog-covered seaside towns and 110-mile shoreline. The area’s rural nature can complicate damage assessment, and solid statistics can take weeks to collect with a lack of local engineers and limited access, she said. Before Tuesday, the county recorded only two earthquake-related deaths in 1850. It could have produced major damage had the bridge not been built to code.īut earthquakes in the area are often not catastrophic, Dengler said, as Humboldt is not a densely packed community of older buildings. A bridge near Rio Dell recorded nearly 1½ times gravitational force, enough to “make you fly into the air a little bit,” she said. She also called the ground acceleration, or how fast the speed of the ground changes, “astounding” and likely to be some of the most intense in the state’s history. Tuesday’s quake pushed its energy north, with residents as far as Seattle feeling some vibrations, but appeared weaker south of the epicenter. ![]() Though the earthquake was similar in magnitude to an offshore jolt that struck exactly a year earlier, they ruptured differently, Dengler said. Tuesday’s epicenter was likely on the Gorda plate, officials said. It has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of Humboldt’s earthquakes, said Lori Dengler, a geophysicist and professor emeritus at Cal Poly Humboldt. The county is a hotbed of seismic activity because of its numerous faults and location near the Mendocino triple junction, a complex geological area where several plates - the Gorda, the Pacific and the North American - intersect. “I thought I was going to be able to pass that down to my daughter and grandchildren, but this being Humboldt County, you can’t always tell,” she said. McIntosh said a hutch containing 1900s-era glassware broke and her china was destroyed. A 6.4 earthquake left it red-taggedĪ house listed for sale in Rio Dell, Calif., suffered significant structural damage in Tuesday’s earthquake. I’ve seen pictures of people’s stuff off the walls but nothing major in Arcata.”Ĭalifornia A California house was on the market. “We didn’t really have any damage to water and gas infrastructure,” she said. The damage was mostly cosmetic, and repair work underneath the bridge and to its sides will likely continue even after traffic resumes, said Myles Cochrane, spokesperson for Caltrans District 1.Īrcata Mayor Sarah Schaefer said that the city fared “pretty well” during the quake compared with Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna and Rio Dell. 101 via State Route 211, was fractured in several places and closed for repairs, but it was likely to reopen Wednesday night, according to the California Department of Transportation’s District 1, which includes Humboldt County. The total cost of damage has not yet been determined.įernbridge, a Humboldt County landmark that was built across the Eel River in 1911 to connect Ferndale to U.S. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday for Humboldt County, granting it state disaster resources and requesting federal assistance, and Sheriff William Honsal declared a local emergency.Īt least 30 residences and one commercial structure have been determined structurally unsafe, the Sheriff’s Office said. More than 3 million people were notified by phone early Tuesday of a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that shook Northern California. California More than 3 million residents got early earthquake warning: ‘A really big success’
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