New Year’s Day Earthquake Shakes Up Northern California
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake shook up Northern California only hours ago. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake’s epicenter was just off the coast of Northern California, approximately 70 miles west of Ferndale.
Despite the size of the quake, no tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. According to Ferndale police, no injuries or damage were reported in Ferndale as a result of the quake. Ferndale sits just 190 miles north of Napa, California. In August, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Napa, injuring over 200 people and causing millions of dollars in damages to homes, businesses, and roads connected with the wine industry.
Police officials in Ferndale said that the town experienced some shaking as a result of the earthquake earlier this morning. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, people as far as 120 miles south of Ferndale, at Fort Bragg, felt the effects of the earthquake.
Californians, of course, are no stranger to earthquakes. In 2014 alone, the state felt the rumbling effects of four measurable earthquakes. The largest one, on March 9, was centered in Cape Menodocino, California. That earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 6.8. Cape Mendocino sits frighteningly close to what is known as the Mendocino Triple Junction, a place where three different tectonic plates intersect, a geological combination that causes a multitude of earthquakes. The Gorda Plate intersects with the San Andreas Fault and the Pacific Fault in this region, and the Gorda Plate is constantly trying to push under the North American Plate beneath Oregon and Washington states. The result is a highly temperamental geological area.
The March 9 earthquake triggered over 13 aftershocks, which were felt as far north as Eugene, Oregon.
Every time the ground begins to shake in California, residents wonder whether they’re on the cusp of experiencing the next “big one.” Most residents living in the Golden State understand that the next devastatingly large earthquake could happen at any time.
In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake (magnitude 7.9) killed over 3,000 people on April 18, and caused $524 million (in 1906 dollars) in damages. By contrast, the same magnitude quake in 1857 centered in Fort Tejon, California, killed only two people even though it caused a 220-mile surface scar across the earth. The differences in the death tolls and damages are clearly due to population and population density.
More recently, in 1994 a 6.7 magnitude quake epicentered in Northridge, California, killed 61 people and caused over $15 billion in damages.
Californians, though they’ve experienced many smaller earthquakes in recent years, always have to feel on guard for the next “big one.”
[Images via USGS]
