At least 2 dead as 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocks Northern California

Picture courtesy: CNBC

At least two people died and 12 were injured after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked Northern California early Tuesday, local authorities said.

The temblor, which is the strongest earthquake the area has seen in years, also damaged infrastructure and cut off power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses around Humboldt County, about 250 miles north of San Francisco.

The quake hit at a depth of 10 miles just after 2:30 a.m. It struck around 7.4 miles west-southwest of Ferndale, the agency said. It struck around 7.4 miles west-southwest of Ferndale, the agency said.

The small city of Rio Dell, population roughly 3,300, was among the communities to have been hit hardest by the quake and the dozens of aftershocks that followed, Honsal, the sheriff said.

The city was expected to be without water for 24 to 48 hours and more than 30 homes were damaged, Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp told reporters. Fifteen of the houses had been "red tagged," or were determined to be uninhabitable, he said.