6.5 quake strikes off the coast of Humboldt County

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck Thursday morning off the Northern California Coast in Humboldt County that was felt in the Bay Area, officials said.

The quake hit on the Mendocino fault at 6:50 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles off coast of Ferndale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was initially reported as a 6.8 magnitude quake, and later downgraded to a 6.5 rattler.

“It started rolling and I could feel it. I had time to jump out of bed and crouch down and call the dog before it stopped. So it was a long rolling one,” said Pam Cahill, a retired teacher who lives three miles north of Eureka.

There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued, said a dispatcher for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

John Bellini, a geophysicist with the USGS in Golden, Colo., said the earthquake was center on the Mendocino fault, 6 miles beneath the ocean floor and about 100 to 110 miles of west of Eureka.

“It was felt pretty widely from central Oregon to as far south as Carmel,” Bellini said.

Some people as far inland as Sacramento reported feeling the earthquake

Several aftershocks were reported in the same area, including a 5.0 magnitude shaker at 8:32 a.m. and one measuring 4.1 at 8:33 a.m., according to the USGS.

“I didn’t feel it. I was shocked when I heard we had a 6.8 earthquake,” said the dispatcher. “The only calls I’ve gotten have been from the media. I haven’t gotten any calls from locals about this.”

On social media, people in the North Bay and in parts of San Francisco reported feeling the shaker.

The earthquake caused BART to order all trains to slow down as workers checked for any damage to tracks and equipment, said a dispatcher. “It’s a normal thing we do for any seismic activity,” the dispatcher said.

(SFgate)

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