Dual Earthquakes Strike in the Pacific Ocean Within Minutes

Two earthquakes struck within minutes of each other on both sides of the Pacific Ocean Saturday night according to reports released by the US Geological Survey (USGS). One quake of magnitude 6.5 was centered about 43 miles away from Ferndale, California, while the other was weaker at magnitude 5.0 and was centered just offshore of the island of Java approximately 60 miles from the city of Tasikmalaya, Java, says the US Geological Survey report.

Jeff Smith of the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was quoted by CNN as saying that approximately 28,000 of their customers were without electricity, with the majority of outages taking place in Humboldt County. Crews were out assessing damage and making repairs throughout the evening. CNN also reported minor injuries related to the California earthquake being treated in at least one local hospital.

According to information obtained from the US Geological Survey, the Ferndale, California earth quake happened at 7:27 p.m. eastern time, just two minutes after the Java earthquake which occurred at 7:25 p.m. As of 11:30 p.m., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had no tsunami warnings in effect as a result of the two Pacific earthquakes. The earthquake near Ferndale, California was said to be 13.5 miles deep in the Earth by the USGS.

Some damage from earthquakes generally occurs with quakes larger than 4-5 on the Richter Scale. A quake of 6.5 magnitude is quite strong and would be expected to cause moderate damage. Smaller aftershocks were reported in the aftermath of the Ferndale, California earthquake, though none approaching the strength of the first quake as of 11:53 p.m. eastern time.

There is a strong history of earthquakes in the same offshore area in which Saturday's Ferndale, California, earthquake took place. An active fault line runs just offshore parallel to the California coast according to historic seismic activity maps on the USGS website.

Sources:

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/nc71338066.php#details
www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rhab.php#details
edition.cnn.com/2010/US/01/09/california.earthquake/index.html
neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2010/eq_100110_nc71338066/nc71338066_h.html