California earthquake: 17 injured and thousands without power

[ad_1]

CNN –

Seventeen people were injured in Humboldt County, California, when a powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Tuesday, damaging roads and buildings and shutting off electricity and water for thousands of people, authorities said.

At least two people have died after the earthquake struck at 2:34 a.m. Tuesday in the Eureka region of Northern California.

The people who died, who ranged in age from 72 to 83, had medical emergencies during or immediately after the earthquake that emergency services were unable to reach in time, said Humboldt County Sheriff William F. Honsal.

The sheriff’s office said in an update Wednesday that they both had preexisting conditions “believed to have been exacerbated by the stress of the earthquake.”

The sheriff’s office did not provide details on the condition of the 17 injured, but authorities said at a news conference Tuesday that nothing had been reported at that point considered critical.

Most homes and businesses in Humboldt County were without power early Tuesday. Nearly 70,000 outages had been reported by 1 p.m

By Wednesday afternoon, just under 2,000 customers in Humboldt County were still without power, according to poweroutage.us.

Also, about 3,400 Rio Del residents were without water, and at least 30 homes and one commercial building in Humboldt County were deemed structurally unsafe, according to a sheriff’s update.

Northeast of Ferndale, seismic activity also damaged Fernbridge, a 111-year-old bridge carrying State Route 211 over the Eel River. An image from California transportation authorities showed a crack across the road.

Tuesday’s quake came a year after the 6.2-magnitude earthquake off Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County on Dec. 20, 2021 caused minor damage to buildings.

The US Geological Survey said more than 36 smaller quakes have occurred since then.

[ad_2]