Videos show extent of damage from deadly 6.4 earthquake in Humboldt County

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Videos show destruction from 6.4 earthquake in Humboldt Co.

Cracked roads, shattered windows, and piles of debris on the ground: those were just some of the startling images emerging from Humboldt County in the wake of Tuesday's earthquake.

HUMBOLDT CO., Calif. (KGO) -- A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Eureka area early Tuesday, leaving at least two people dead and drawing reports of widespread damage to roads and homes.

The quake hit at 2:34 a.m. about 15 miles from Fortuna, a city of about 12,000 people in Humboldt County.

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.

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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.

Click here for the latest stories and videos about earthquakes here in the Bay Area and around the world, and click here for more information on disaster preparedness.

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