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That was a rocker!

A 4.6 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck just offshore of the South Spit at 9:24 a.m. today, but don’t let the smallish number fool you — this sucker was widely felt all around the Humboldt Bay area and beyond. We experienced it as a short, sharp shock here at LoCO HQ, followed by long, low rumble. [UPDATE: The USGS has since downgraded it to 4.5.]

A caller from Rio Dell tells the Outpost that things flew off her shelves and broke, and her door swung open on its own. 

LoCO Facebook friends say:

“Sitting in my car parked and thought someone hit me!!! Good shaker! Bayshore Mall.”

“Rio Dell HUGE two jolts and a large roll!”

“Was sitting in my car in Fortuna. Felt like someone hit me, I looked around and felt it again and realized we were in the middle of a quake.”

“That was a bad one in Ferndale. It didn’t stop to the point I actually gathered the kids lol. Normally they don’t even notice but our 3.5 year old was scared.”

“At our house in Arcata, just north of HSU, we felt it as a singular house-jerking jolt. Unmistakably a quake.”

“I live in a mobile in mac town…strong jolts..freaked out my dogs and had us almost out the house..”

Whew! 

More information from the USGS at the links above. We’ll update if matters warrant it.