A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Northern California on Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Since the quake hit, many residents have reported feeling the shaking or noticing objects swaying.
Many people also received a ShakeAlert notification on their phones, warning of a magnitude 6.0 earthquake reported in Mendocino County at 8:10 a.m.
By 8:16 a.m., the USGS revised the earthquake’s magnitude to 5.6 and located the epicenter about 6.8 miles north of Redwood Valley. Although the details remain preliminary, people as far south as Modesto reported feeling the tremor.
According to USGS, the quake had a depth of about 5 miles.
In the KCRA 3 studio, some monitors could be seen slightly shaking from the quake.
At 8:17 a.m., a magnitude 2.5 aftershock was reported. At 9:06 a.m., two more aftershocks were reported.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said it is aware of the earthquake and is working closely with emergency officials while evaluating any potential impacts and damage. Officials also reported that nearly 657,000 earthquake alerts were distributed through the MyShake app.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is currently reviewing the area for possible damage. Meanwhile, Cal Fire’s Howard Forest Emergency Command Center said it has not received any reports of damage at this time.
As of 9:55 a.m., more than 8,000 utility customers in Mendocino County remained without electricity, though the cause of the outages has not yet been determined. In response, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it has activated its earthquake response plan.
PG&E said the number of affected customers had earlier reached nearly 10,000. The company added that crews will inspect its infrastructure for any damage before restoring service. So far, PG&E has not identified any damage to its facilities, gas system, or power-generating assets.
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