The quake, late in the afternoon, came in like a rolling wave say witnesses no deaths reported
California earthquake Jan 9 2010
At 4:37 PM local time, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern California shook the coastal region and inland for up to 300 miles. The quake was centered about 20 miles off the coast.
Other than power and gas outages and property damage, no reports of injuries have been found. Thanks to LiveLeak we have actual footage from the quake in the town of Arcata.
A CCTV camera catches people hanging around outside a local bar in Arcata California. It’s late afternoon on Saturday.
At about 57 seconds on the tape, the camera starts to roll and create a wavy picture. It came in like a rolling wave said witnesses speaking about the earthquake.
The man with the little blond girl in pink was holding the door open for others including his wife. If might have been more prudent to keep the child away from the building and let someone else act like a gentleman.
It doesn’t take long of the bar to empty. Some people brought their drinks outside and seemed in a party mood. Once the rolling stops a minute later a few people go back inside.
Other places in the quake zone didn’t fare so well. One motel and bar owner told CNN the back bar fell over and they were awash in liquor.
“In Eureka, north of Ferndale, residents of an apartment building were evacuated, and an office building and two other commercial structures in the town of about 26,000 people were declared unsafe for occupancy, according to Humboldt County spokesman Phil Smith-Hanes.
“Our initial reports were that, though this was a pretty decent quake, we survived it well,” Smith-Hanes said, adding that damage assessments would continue Sunday across the county.” Yahoo News
No major injuries were reported and most of the people were treated for bumps and bruises. 25,000 homes were without gas. Some commercial buildings were judged unsafe.
Tectonic Summary
California earthquake US Geological Survey
This earthquake occurred approximately 35 km WNW of Ferndale, CA in a deformation zone of the southernmost Juan de Fuca plate that is commonly referred to as the Gorda plate. The earthquake’s epicenter is northwest of the Mendocino Triple Junction, which is formed by the intersection of the Mendocino fracture zone, the San Andreas fault and the Cascadia subduction zone. The Gorda plate is subducting beneath the North America plate at about 2.5-3 cm/year in the direction N50E. The Gorda plate is also subjected to intense compressive stresses by oblique-convergence of the northwestward migrating Pacific Plate as well as localized eastward spreading at the Gorda Ridge. The resulting internal deformation of the Gorda plate is manifested primarily by intraplate strike-slip events on vertical NE-oriented faults.
Preliminary analysis of the earthquake indicates that it results from slip on a near vertical, left-lateral fault oriented about N47E. Large strike-slip earthquakes like this one are common in the interior of the Gorda plate. There are no reports of this earthquake causing a tsunami. Strike-slip earthquakes are less likely to produce large tsunamis because they cause relatively little vertical ground displacement. Shaking was strongest near the coast line between Petrolia and Eureka, CA, although felt reports for this event extend from as far south and north as Capitola, CA and Eugene, OR, respectively, and as far east as Reno, NV. The maximum recorded shaking was observed in Eureka (33%g), which is sufficient to cause moderate damage.
This is the largest quake to occur in this region since the April 04, 1992 M7.2 Petrolia and the June 15, 2005 M7.2 Gorda plate earthquakes.
The probability of a strong and possibly damaging aftershock (M>5) in the 7 days following the earthquake is approximately 78%. Most likely, the mainshock will be the largest in the sequence. However, there is a small chance (~5-10%) of an earthquake equal to or larger than this mainshock in the next 7 days. In addition, numerous M3-5 aftershocks are expected to occur in the same 7-day period, but most are unlikely to be felt due to the distance from land.
Reuters/Yahoo News video shows some of the business damage.
Video from LiveLeak. Story from CNN and Yahoo News.
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