In pictures: 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits Northern California

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Northern California’s Eureka area early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, leaving at least two people dead and 12 injured.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 2:34 a.m. PT, was about 15 miles from Fortuna, a city of around 12,000 people in Humboldt County, part of California’s forested Redwood Coast.

Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, which allows Humboldt County to access resources under the California Disaster Assistance Act, Newsom’s office said in a release.

“Widespread damages to roads and homes” were being reported throughout Humboldt County, the county sheriff’s office said on Twitter.

Most homes and businesses in Humboldt County were without power early Tuesday. Nearly 70,000 outages were reported, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us.

Photo: Twitter @kentphotos

In Rio Dell, one of the cities impacted by the earthquake, city manager Kyle Knopp said water and power remain out, and the county is under a boil-water notice.

Photo: Dim Hou/Unsplash

In downtown Fortuna, some storefront windows were shattered, pictures and videos showed in social media.

Photo: Twitter @KTLA

Northeast of Ferndale, the quake damaged part of the Fernbridge, which carries State Route 211 over the Eel River, CNN reported.

Photo: Twitter @KTLA

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The two people who died, a 72-year-old and an 83-year-old, had medical emergencies sometime during the earthquake and emergency services couldn’t reach them in time, local authorities said.

Regarding the 12 injured people, none are considered critical, said Humboldt County Sheriff William F. Honsal.

Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that follow a larger one, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock.

The main quake produced at least some shaking from coastal Oregon to south of San Jose, California, public reports collected by the survey show.