6.0 magnitude quake rocks Eureka

<p>Humboldt County residents were rocked by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck at 12:20 p.m. Thursday. The shaking caused little damage and no injuries or power outages, according to preliminary reports.</p><p>The earthquake was centered offshore about 35 miles northwest of Petrolia. People reported feeling the quake within a 150-mile radius, as far north as southern Oregon and as far south as Sonoma County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.</p><p>Many said the movement didn't feel nearly as severe as the magnitude-6.5 quake that struck the same region Jan. 9 and caused more than $40 million in damage and one serious injury — an elderly woman who fell and broke her hip.</p><p>“I could tell it wasn't a big one,” said John Clickner, Eureka Co-op's assistant manager.</p><p>Clickner was walking into the store when Thursday's quake bumped, rolled and had telephone poles swaying, he said. The quake didn't knock anything off the shelves, he said.</p><p>“I got a call from home and the dogs are a little weirded out, but that's par for the course,” Clickner said.</p><p>Eureka Fire Chief Eric Smith said crews were checking on structures that were damaged in the previous earthquake to ensure they're secure.</p><p>No customers were without power Thursday afternoon, said Jana Morris, Pacific Gas and Electric spokeswoman.</p><p>“Both our gas and electric system tested fine,” Morris said.</p><p>PG&E crews also checked Humboldt Bay's nuclear power Thursday afternoon and found no damage, Morris said.</p><p>Phil Smith-Hanes, the county spokesman, said its Office of Emergency Services had not received any reports of major damage or injuries.</p><p>"At first blush, it doesn't look like it's a big deal," he said.</p><p>Books stayed on the shelves at Humboldt County's main library on Third Street, said Victor Zazueta, the county's head librarian.</p><p>Storm winds and downpours eclipsed the earthquake for some residents.</p><p>Barbara Paige didn't feel a thing as she drove to her job at the Eureka Co-op.</p><p>“Personally, I'm glad I missed it,” Paige said.</p><p>About 50 miles to the south in Petrolia, Gold Rush Coffee employee Anna Morgan didn't feel the earthquake either.</p><p>“It's been really stormy and rainy and loud. I didn't know,” Morgan said.</p><p>Steve Walter, a seismologist at the USGS in Menlo Park, said Thursday's quake was not an aftershock because it occurred on a different fault, but "we could speculate it might have been triggered by the one last month."</p><p>Walter said the far-northern coast of California is the most seismically active area, but the potential for damage and injuries there is smaller because it is less populated.</p><p>"They get more earthquakes and much bigger quakes up there," he said. "They have had more in the past, and they will have more in the future than any other part of California."</p>