Valerie Starkey was driving through Northern California to visit relatives when she suddenly felt shaking and feared her car had broken down, only to realize later that it was an earthquake so powerful that it triggered a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles of the U.S. West Coast.
The epicenter of Thursday's 7.0 magnitude shaker occurred in California´s so-called "earthquake country" because it´s where three tectonic plates meet. The temblor was the most powerful to rattle the state since a 7.1-magnitude quake hit Ridgecrest in 2019.
"I thought my axles had fallen apart," said Starkey, a Del Norte County supervisor representing Crescent City, a town of fewer than 6,000 near the Oregon border. "That´s what I was feeling ... 'My axles are broken now.' I did not realize it was an earthquake."
The quake struck at 10:44 a.m. west of Ferndale, a small city in coastal Humboldt County, about 130 miles (209 km) from the Oregon border, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The shaking knocked items off grocery store shelves and sent children scrambling under desks at schools.
It was felt as far south as San Francisco, some 270 miles (435 km) away, where residents described a rolling motion for several seconds. It was followed by multiple smaller aftershocks. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries from the quake.
The tsunami warning issued shortly after the quake struck spanned from the edge of California´s Monterey Bay north into Oregon.
"It was a strong quake. Our building shook. We´re fine, but I have a mess to clean up right now," said Julie Kreitzer, owner of Golden Gait Mercantile...
Cindy Vosburg stated: "Just as it would start to subside, the building would roll again."
White House spokesperson Jeremy Edwards said President Joe Biden was briefed on the earthquake and that FEMA officials are in touch with their state and local counterparts in California and Oregon.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off on a state of emergency declaration to quickly move state resources to impacted areas along the coast...