An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 struck Mendocino County on Wednesday morning, causing ShakeAlert notifications to be sent across Northern California.
The quake occurred at 8:10 a.m. Pacific Time, approximately seven miles north of Redwood Valley in inland Mendocino County, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The area is sparsely populated.
Residents received alerts from ShakeAlert, an early warning system by USGS for California, Washington, and Oregon. A smaller 2.5-magnitude earthquake, likely an aftershock, followed about seven minutes later. Additional aftershocks, measuring 2.7 and 2.6, occurred around an hour after the initial quake.
Mendocino County Executive Office confirmed reports of injuries, although the severity is unknown. No fatalities have been reported.
Tremors were felt as distant as Sacramento. Reports from Willits indicated power outages near the earthquake’s epicenter. PG&E said around 8,000 customers were affected, with outages starting when the quake struck.
PG&E stated there was no damage to their equipment, but they activated an emergency response plan. The utility will continue patrolling and assessing potential gas and electric hazards.
The earthquake’s depth was around five miles, with a yellow impact alert level. Such a level suggests the possibility of damage.
The National Tsunami Warning Center indicated no tsunami threat from the earthquake.
Fort Bragg police, located about 50 miles from the epicenter on California’s North Coast, are monitoring the situation. No damage has been reported there.
Mendocino County stated no major damage is known, but areas will continue to be assessed. California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the situation.
Redwood Valley is situated approximately 120 miles north of San Francisco and 140 miles northwest of Sacramento.