The quake hit at 2:34 a.m. about 15 miles from Fortuna, a city of about 12,000 people in Humboldt County.
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ABC7 News anchor Liz Kreutz was in the town of Rio Dell in what officials are saying is "ground zero" for damage. Video she posted to Twitter shows a man picking up liquor bottles that had fallen of the shelf and shattered.
ABC7 also spoke to a woman who said it felt like she was in a tornado when the quake hit, saying her house moved completely in circles.
Humboldt County District 2 supervisor Michelle Bushnell tells ABC7 News it's a "total mess" in the city, with houses off their foundation and no power or water into the city after a major water main break.
Northeast of Ferndale, the temblor damaged part of the Fernbridge, which carries State Route 211 over the Eel River.
VIDEO: 11% chance of a magnitude 5 earthquake or larger in next week after 6.4 Humboldt Co. quake
USGS: 11% chance of a magnitude 5 earthquake or larger in next week after 6.4 Humboldt Co. quake
Part of the road at the bridge was cracked, an image tweeted by the California Department of Transportation showed.
"The bridge is closed while we conduct safety inspections due to possible seismic damage," the tweet reads.
The-CNN-Wire contributed to this article.
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