Earthquake injured 17 people, left 2 dead in California

A strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake slammed Humboldt County, California, on Tuesday, destroying buildings and roads as well as knocking off electricity and water to thousands of residents, according to authorities.

In the Northern California region of Eureka, an earthquake that occurred at 2:34 a.m. on Tuesday resulted in at least two fatalities.

According to William F. Honsal, sheriff of Humboldt County, the two victims, aged 72 and 83, experienced medical issues during or shortly after the earthquake but were unable to receive timely assistance.

According to an update released by the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, both individuals had preexisting ailments that "are believed to have been aggravated by the stress of the earthquake."

Although the Sheriff's Office withheld information regarding the 17 injured people's conditions, authorities declared in a press conference on Tuesday that none of the cases was deemed life-threatening at that time.

Early on Tuesday, most homes and businesses in Humboldt County were without electricity. By 1 p.m., there were close to 70,000 outages reported.

According to poweroutage.us, a little under 2,000 people were still without electricity in Humboldt County as of Wednesday afternoon.

The sheriff's statement also mentioned that 3,400 people in Rio Dell's city were without water and that at least 30 residences and one business structure in Humboldt County were judged structurally hazardous.

The 111-year-old Fernbridge, which carries State Route 211 across the Eel River, was also damaged by the seismic activity northeast of Ferndale. The California Department of Transportation provided a picture of a crack in the road.

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on December 20, 2021, near off Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County and caused minor structural damage preceded Tuesday's quake by a year.

The US Geological Survey reported that later, more than thirty other minor quakes occurred.

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