A
magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck
about 30 miles from Fortuna on the northern coast of California on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The strong shaking was reported at 12:10 pm (local time) 37 miles from the town of Eureka.
Authorities immediately warned that there was no tsunami alert
.
The quake was
5.8 miles deep
.
More than 3,400 people reported as of Monday afternoon having felt the earthquake to the USGS, from northern California to the San Francisco Bay area, at varying levels of intensity.
The 6.2 magnitude quake was centered off the coast of northern California near Petrolia. Map / US Geological Survey
After the earthquake, there were multiple aftershocks with magnitudes in the range of 2.5 and 4, state officials said.
So far
no serious material damage or injuries have been reported
.
However, in coastal towns near the epicenter, such as Petrolia, slight damage was recorded.
Images on social media also showed damage to buildings, such as broken windows, and to shops in the coastal town of Ferndale.
The Valley Grocery grocery store in Ferndale suffered losses to its merchandise, which was left littering the aisles after the earthquake, local freelance journalist Caroline Titus reported.
The owner said ten volunteers showed up and helped clean up so it can reopen its doors right away.
The windows of several businesses in Rio Dell were also damaged during the earthquake, according to a report in the local North Coast Journal newspaper.
[A tile got stuck in his head during the 2017 earthquake in Mexico and he survived]
An average of five earthquakes with a magnitude between 6.0 and 7.0 are recorded each year in the states of California and Nevada, according to a recent data sample.
The earthquake occurred as a result of a slide fault at a relatively shallow depth, the USGS reported.
The preliminary report indicates that it was located to the east of the so-called triple junction of Mendocino,
an area in which movements are usually recorded
.
During the past century, there have been 40 other earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater within a 250-kilometer radius of the one recorded on Monday.
The Mendocino fracture marks the southern boundary between the Juan de Fuca plates and the Pacific, explained Lucy Jones, an associate researcher at Caltech's seismological laboratory, on Twitter.
Due to the characteristics of the movement,
tsunamis are not expected
.
“It is a transformation fault, which means that the movement is lateral.
There is no vertical movement, so little water is displaced and, therefore, there is no tsunami warning, "said the specialist.
