Videos show car, cannabis farm shaking as earthquake strikes California: Watch
- A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck California near Petrolia generating a strong shake and prompting a tsunami warning
- More than 150,000 people felt the earthquake between Fort Bragg and Eureka
- Despite the strong jolt, no earthquake-related injuries or major damages were reported
- The earthquake was a largely horizontal motion, striking offshore and not particularly deep, with several aftershocks recorded
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck California near the town of Petrolia, about 265 miles north of San Francisco, Thursday morning generating a strong shake and a now-discontinued tsunami warning that stretched from southern Oregon to San Fransisco.
More than 150,000 people could have been exposed to earthquake shaking, between just north of Fort Bragg to Eureka, according to U.S. Geological Survey estimates.
The quake occurred at 10:44 a.m. local time near the sparsely populated northern coast of California, just offshore, and was felt across Humboldt County. By 12:30 p.m., less than two hours after the initial quake, the area had experienced 13 different aftershocks, ranging from 5.1 to 3.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. By 2:30 p.m., the USGS had reported at least 39 aftershocks of at least a 2.5 magnitude in the region, including Petrolia and Ferndale.
Despite the strong jolt, no earthquake-related injuries or major damages were reported, Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services said in an 8:30 p.m. advisory Thursday, adding damage assessments across the county are ongoing. Dr. Stephen DeLong, a geologist with the Earthquake Science Center at the U.S.G.S., at a news briefing explained the reason behind this was that the earthquake was a “largely horizontal motion,” meaning the two faults had slid past each other. He added the earthquake struck offshore and was not particularly deep.
A home camera video from Humboldt County captured a car shaking violently as the earthquake struck on the San Andreas fault, which runs along the coastline.
A guide to how they're measured:Earthquakes happen all the time, you just can't feel them.
Another video from California shows plants and overhead lights in a cannabis grow room rattle as the magnitude 7.0 quake strikes.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.