Americas

Home page

Americas

6.0 quake rattles North California coast

04 February 2010 22:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Residents of Northern California’s Humboldt County were rocked by a magnitude-5.9 earthquake Thursday, but officials said there were no immediate reports of major injury or damage from the second large temblor to hit the area within a month, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Pressâ€.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake struck at 12:20 p.m. about 35 miles northwest of the community of Petrolia and nearly 50 miles west of Eureka. The shaking was felt within a 150-mile radius, as far north as southern Oregon and as far south as Sonoma County, according to the USGS Web site.

Local officials and residents reported feeling a rolling sensation that caused items to fall from walls and shelves. Many said the movement didn’t feel nearly as severe as the magnitude-6.5 quake that struck the same region Jan. 9 and caused more than $40 million in damage and one serious injury â€” an elderly woman who fell and broke her hip.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Brenda Godsey, who was in a restaurant at the time, said the quake lasted 25 to 30 seconds, with none of the violent jolts felt last month.

Steve Walter, a seismologist at the USGS in Menlo Park, said Thursday’s quake was not an aftershock because it occurred on a different fault, but "we could speculate it might have been triggered by the one last month."