United States: at least two dead after the earthquake in California

At least two people died in northern California on Tuesday after a powerful earthquake off the US coast caused landslides and cut power to tens of thousands of people. The 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck overnight about 40 kilometers southwest of the port city of Eureka in Humboldt County, according to the United States Institute of Geophysics (USGS).

In this area located more than a four-hour drive from San Francisco, “two people died in medical emergencies that occurred during and/or immediately following the earthquake,” the county said in a news release, without further details. Eleven people were also injured, according to the county.

The quake also caused extensive property damage and more than 74,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity by noon, according to PowerOutage. “Damage assessment is underway,” but the quake has already inflicted “significant damage,” including to gas and water pipes in the area, according to the local sheriff’s office. The quake broke a road leading to the small town of Fernbridge, according to photos posted on Twitter by Dania Romero, a reporter for local television KAEF.

Several photos and videos on social media show the windows of houses shattered, objects knocked over by the tremors and a supermarket shelf littered with products falling off the shelves. Rock falls and small landslides also occurred along a highway connecting Humboldt County to central California.

This western American state is regularly rocked by earthquakes. According to seismologists, an earthquake capable of causing widespread destruction is almost certain to hit California within the next thirty years. In 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in Northridge, northwest of Los Angeles, killed at least 60 people and caused an estimated $10 billion in damage. In 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in San Francisco claimed the lives of 67 people.