6.2 quake strikes off coast of California
A strong, 6.2 earthquake has hit off the northern coast of California. Twitter has been flooded with reports of people describing the tremor, which reportedly came in waves.
The quake struck at 12:10 PST (20:10 GMT), approximately 38 kilometers west of the northern Californian community of Petrolia.
The earthquake was centered in the Pacific Ocean, according to reports, and state emergency services say they are monitoring any potential “secondary impacts.”
Weather services have warned that the quake has not made enough of an impact to issue any official tsunami warnings.
Strong #earthquake (#sismo) shakes Offshore Northern California 6 min ago. Map of eyewitnesses' felt reports: pic.twitter.com/shcxOtLpQp
— EMSC (@LastQuake) December 20, 2021
We just had a 5.5 #earthquake off the coast of Fortuna, California. It's about 30 miles away from us here in Eureka. There was a very strong initial wave and then a very weak second wave which I actually didn't feel. No damage. No tsunamis. But we are all awake now.
— Permanent Suspension (#7) (@PermSusLucky7) December 20, 2021
Witnesses have flocked to social media to describe the impact they felt, with many saying it was enough to wake them up.
Yes! I'm up in Klamath and whole room and building shook for a few seconds. Quite a surprise. #Earthquake
— Caspar Donnison (@CasparDonnison) December 20, 2021
Up in Eureka, the @MyShakeApp alerts worked perfectly! I had a nice 15 second warning. #Earthquakepic.twitter.com/m6UmR2k7I8
— James Kicklighter (@jameskick) December 20, 2021
Others heard ‘earthquake’ and ‘California’ and assumed for a moment it could be the massive quake across from San Andreas Fault that meteorologists have been warning about for years. This overdue earthquake, often referred to as ‘The Big One’ by Californians, could measure at least 7.8 in magnitude and cause massive destruction for the state.
I slept through it. This is what happens when you live in California for a long enough, particularly Northern California.and then sometimes every little tremor you get the millisecond fleeting thought: is this the Big One? https://t.co/vKqPhle1wi
— Annie Anxiety || Support the #CBWU ♍️ (@fangirlsmash) December 20, 2021
People in Califronia anytime there’s an earthquake #Earthquakepic.twitter.com/qzxs7fRky3
— cesar (@jebaiting) December 20, 2021