SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A moderate earthquake shook a rural area of Northern California on Wednesday morning, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.
The epicenter of the quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6, was about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was felt widely, including in the fishing city of Fort Bragg. The initial quake was centered inland about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Fort Bragg at 8:10 a.m. PT, and the USGS said it was about 5 miles (8 kilometers) deep.
Brie Leon and colleagues had just opened Club Calpella Restaurant when the building started shaking, rattling plates and bottles.
“I had just turned the open sign on and went back into the kitchen, and that’s when it happened,” she said. “It almost felt like something hit the building.”
The restaurant is in Calpella, California, a town about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the epicenter and in a part of Mendocino County that has been struck by smaller quakes this year.
Leon said the quake knocked frames off the walls and bottles off the shelves in the stockroom next door. She and other servers were cleaning up not long after to welcome customers for breakfast.
“It wasn’t a big, big quake, but things went everywhere,” she said.
Andrea Medina, who works at Cafe One in Fort Bragg, said she, too, felt it.
“Things were shaking,” she said. “But it’s done, not too strong.”
A 2.5 magnitude quake struck near the epicenter a few minutes later.
Fawnell Dale, a dispatch supervisor at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office in Ukiah, described the shaking as mild and said they hadn’t gotten any reports of any damage or injuries.
Nearly 657,000 earthquake early warning alerts were sent by the MyShake App throughout Northern California, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said. Cal OES had not received any reports of damage or injuries but it was coordinating with authorities to evaluate impacts, the office said in a statement.
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Weber reported from Los Angeles.
