Buildings shaken as quake hits the coast of California

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at about 4.27pm on Saturday local time, about 27 miles from Eureka, a city of about 26,000. No injuries were reported.

The local power company said supplies were cut to about 25,000 customers.

Several traffic lights had collapsed and many residents had reported water, gas and sewer leaks, said a spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Services in Humbolt County.

"People have chimneys down and we're hearing about minor property damage and lots of glassware broken," she said.

"It was shaking pretty good, then it had a big jolt to it at the end."

Police in Ferndale, the community closest to the quake's epicentre, said the jolt caused plasterwork to fall off City Hall and broke shop windows, strewing the historic central streets with glass.

"I thought a tyre had blown off my truck because it was so hard to keep control of the vehicle," said one officer. "Power lines were swaying and I could see people in the fields trying to keep their balance."

Televisions tumbled and objects were knocked off walls in Arcata, a small town home to Humboldt State University, one resident said.

"The whole town is kind of freaked out right now," said Judd Starks, the kitchen manager at a bar and restaurant known as The Alibi. "All the power is out, people are out walking around."

The quake was felt as far south as central California, and as far north as central Oregon, according to the USGS.

Arcata and Eureka are about 270 miles north of San Francisco in a coastal area known for periodic earthquakes.

In 1964 a tsunami washed away 11 people in Crescent City, 90 miles to the north of Eureka. It is the only tsunami to take lives in the continental United States.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there was no threat of the quake generating a tsunami.

According to the USGS, the quake hit at a depth of nearly 10 miles. Five aftershocks followed in the 90 minutes after the quake, the biggest registering at a magnitude of 3.8. The San Francisco Bay area was struck by two light earthquakes on Thursday and Friday.

There was a small chance – 5 to 10 per cent – of another magnitude-6.5 temblor or larger hitting the area this week, but the odds would dramatically decrease as time passed, they added.