Magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits northern California, triggering brief tsunami warning

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook parts of Northern California early Thursday, triggering a brief tsunami warning that led to evacuations in some coastal areas of Northern California and the San Francisco Bay.

The notable quake struck an offshore area about 100 km northwest of Ferndale, a city in Humboldt County in Northern California with a population of more than 1,000, at 10:44 a.m. local time (1844 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Initially reported as a magnitude 6.6 quake, it was upgraded to 7.0 by the USGS. The focus of the quake was identified at a depth of 0.6 km finally.

At least 5.3 million people in California were under a tsunami warning issued by the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) minutes after the earthquake struck. However, the yellow alert only predicts localized but minimal damage.

The tsunami warning, extending from the Oregon state line down to the San Francisco Bay Area, was canceled by the NWS about Thursday noon local time, saying, "No destructive tsunami has been recorded."

Residents up and down the Northern California coast, as well as into the Central Valley, reported feeling shaking. USGS officials told local news channel KCRA 3 that they received more than 1,500 "Did You Feel It?" responses from the earthquake.

Ferndale resident Caroline Titus told KCRA 3 by phone that in her 35 years living in the area, the quake was not particularly damaging but was "one of those ones that got your attention."

Ferndale, a town of about 1,000 residents in Humboldt County, is located in what USGS officials refer to as an "earthquake country."

After the earthquake, Titus ran to a nearby daycare center to check on her granddaughter. She found the children had taken shelter under a play structure outside and were unharmed. She noted the town's historic Main Street "dodged a bullet."

Video posted online showed that there were some businesses where items fell off the shelves, but there was no major structural damage in Ferndale or nearby towns.

Nevertheless, California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Thursday afternoon in Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties to support the emergency response.

About a dozen smaller aftershocks happened in Northern California so far. Humboldt County officials said power remains out for 1,000 customers, but no injuries were reported, and damage assessments were ongoing.