Magnitude 5.6 earthquake felt across Northern California, USGS says
LIVE FROM KCRA THREE NEWS. WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS AND THAT BREAKING NEWS IS OUT OF MENDOCINO COUNTY. WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS FOR JUST OVER AN HOUR NOW, A 5.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HIT JUST OUTSIDE OF WILLITS. NOW, THE ALERT CAME IN JUST AFTER EIGHT. SO AT 810 THIS MORNING IS WHEN THIS EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED. WE DIDN’T FEEL ANYTHING HERE IN OUR STUDIO, BUT WE DID SEE THE LIGHTS AND OUR MONITORS FROM THE CEILING MOVING. WE CAN TELL YOU THAT THE GOOD NEWS IN ALL OF THIS IS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTED DAMAGE. DAMAGE, NO SERIOUS DAMAGE, NO INJURIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED. BUT EVEN AFTER THIS EARTHQUAKE THIS MORNING, THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF AFTERSHOCKS ALL IN THAT SAME AREA, ALL OF THEM RIGHT AROUND 2.5, 2.7, 2.6 HAPPENING AGAIN RIGHT IN THAT AREA. WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 3100 PG&E CUSTOMERS IN THAT AREA THAT ARE WITHOUT POWER, RIGHT? IN THAT THAT GENERAL AREA, AGAIN, BUT NO MAJOR REPORTS OF ANY DAMAGE. MIKE, WE ALSO KNOW THE GOVERNOR, OF COURSE, HAS BEEN BRIEFED ON THIS. AND CAL OES IS ALSO TALKING TO OFFICIALS. THEY ARE ASSESSING DAMAGE, IF THERE IS ANY. AGAIN, SO FAR, NO REPORTED DAMAGE. FOR MORE ON THIS INCIDENT, LET’S GET ON OVER TO METEOROLOGIST TAMARA BERG. ALL RIGHT. YEAH. LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS HAPPENING JUST ABOUT 810 THIS MORNING. SO WELL OVER AN HOUR AGO. AND THE MAGNITUDE RATING AT A 5.6. SO YOU’RE WONDERING, OKAY, WELL, HOW STRONG IS THAT IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT THE SCALE OF THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE? WELL, YOU CAN SEE THE YELLOW DOT THERE ON THE EARTHQUAKE MAP. AND THAT’S WHERE THE INITIAL EARTHQUAKE TOOK PLACE. THE EPICENTER, IF YOU WILL, AT 810 THIS MORNING. AND THEN EVERYTHING AROUND THAT IN THE RED ARE SOME OF THE AFTERSHOCKS THAT HAVE BEEN MEASURED PRIMARILY AT 2.7 MAGNITUDE AND BELOW. SO HOW DOES THAT STACK UP? WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE EARTHQUAKE SCALE? WELL, ANYTHING BETWEEN A FIVE AND A SIX CAN BE MODERATE TO MODERATELY STRONG. AND AGAIN, THIS ONE CAME IN AT 5.6. SO RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE I WOULD RATE THIS MODERATELY POTENTIAL FOR POTENTIAL DAMAGE. AND TYPICALLY WHAT YOU WOULD SEE WITH ANYTHING FIVE AND UP WOULD BE POTENTIAL FOR SOME PROPERTY DAMAGE. AND THE ENERGY EQUIVALENT THERE OF A LOT OF FOLKS COULD FEEL THE SHAKING RIGHT AROUND THAT IMMEDIATE VICINITY. ANYTHING THAT IS KIND OF SIX AND UP ON THE SCALE IS WHERE YOU START TO SEE MORE MAJOR DAMAGE. AND FOR BIGGER PERSPECTIVE AS A WHOLE, SOME OF THE STRONGEST EARTHQUAKES WE’VE HAD HERE IN THE STATE. YEAH, THOSE ALL GO UP ANYWHERE FROM 6.9. THAT WAS LOMA PRIETA BACK IN 1989, AND THEN ALL THE WAY UP TO, YOU KNOW, 7.9 THAT HAPPENED IN SAN FRANCISCO BACK IN 1906. SO, YOU KNOW, IN THE SCALE OF EVERYTHING, THIS ONE IS NOT COMING IN TERRIBLY DAMAGING. BUT IT’S CERTAINLY ENOUGH THAT FOLKS COULD FEEL. AND WE’VE HEARD REPORTS FROM AROUND THAT AREA, ESPECIALLY AROUND KELSEYVILLE LAKE COUNTY AND AREAS THERE AROUND CLEAR LAKE. SOME FOLKS REPORTING THAT THERE WAS ENOUGH SHAKING THAT IN SOME OF THE LOCAL AREAS, THERE ARE BUSINESSES. THEY HAD THINGS THAT WOULD FALL OFF THE SHELF, THAT TYPE OF DAMAGE. AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE ANY REPORTS, ANY VIDEO TO SHARE WITH US OF ANY DAMAGE AS WELL, WE’D BE HAPPY TO TAKE THAT IN AND WE’LL KEEP YOU UPDATED ON THIS AND ANY OTHER AFTERS
Magnitude 5.6 earthquake felt across Northern California, USGS says
Updated: 10:29 AM PDT Jun 24, 2026
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook Northern California on Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Since then, many people have reported either feeling shaking or seeing items sway.A ShakeAlert notification went off on many people’s phones, alerting them to a magnitude 6.0 tremor reported in Mendocino County at 8:10 a.m. As of 8:16 a.m., USGS updated the strength of the shake to 5.6, about 6.8 miles north of Redwood Valley. While the information is still preliminary, some people as far away as Modesto have reported feeling the earthquake.According to USGS, the quake had a depth of about 5 miles.In the KCRA 3 studio, some monitors could be seen slightly shaking from the quake. At 8:17 a.m., a magnitude 2.5 aftershock was reported. At 9:06 a.m., two more aftershocks were reported. | VIDEO BELOW | KCRA 3 anchors react to earthquakeGov. Gavin Newsom’s press office announced it is aware of the earthquake and is closely coordinating with emergency officials and assessing potential impacts and damage. The agency said nearly 657,000 earthquake alerts were sent through the MyShake app.The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is assessing any damage. Cal Fire’s Howard Forest Emergency Command Center has not received any reports of damage so far.As of 9:55 a.m., more than 8,000 utility customers are without power in Mendocino County. The cause of the outages is unknown. In response to the outages, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it is executing a plan it has in place for responding to earthquakes.PG&E said that earlier, there were up to 10,000 customers without power. The utility said it will inspect its system for any potential damage before restoring power. It said there has been no damage reported to any of its facilities, gas system or generating assets.See an earthquake tracker from the San Francisco Chronicle below.What those who reported feeling the earthquake are sayingA caller from Stockton said the weights on his grandfather clock were swaying. A viewer emailed to say their lights were shaking.A 10-year-old from Vacaville said her pool was shaking and that water was spilling out.Callers from Arden-Arcade said they felt shaking, with one person saying their apartment pool had water spilling out.Stan’s Cafe in Ukiah felt the quake but had no damage.Abhayagirir Buddhist monastery, close to the epicenter, did not have anyone hurt, but a lot of things fell over. See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook Northern California on Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Since then, many people have reported either feeling shaking or seeing items sway.
A ShakeAlert notification went off on many people’s phones, alerting them to a magnitude 6.0 tremor reported in Mendocino County at 8:10 a.m.
As of 8:16 a.m., USGS updated the strength of the shake to 5.6, about 6.8 miles north of Redwood Valley. While the information is still preliminary, some people as far away as Modesto have reported feeling the earthquake.
According to USGS, the quake had a depth of about 5 miles.
In the KCRA 3 studio, some monitors could be seen slightly shaking from the quake.
At 8:17 a.m., a magnitude 2.5 aftershock was reported. At 9:06 a.m., two more aftershocks were reported.
| VIDEO BELOW | KCRA 3 anchors react to earthquake
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office announced it is aware of the earthquake and is closely coordinating with emergency officials and assessing potential impacts and damage. The agency said nearly 657,000 earthquake alerts were sent through the MyShake app.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is assessing any damage. Cal Fire’s Howard Forest Emergency Command Center has not received any reports of damage so far.
As of 9:55 a.m., more than 8,000 utility customers are without power in Mendocino County. The cause of the outages is unknown. In response to the outages, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it is executing a plan it has in place for responding to earthquakes.
PG&E said that earlier, there were up to 10,000 customers without power. The utility said it will inspect its system for any potential damage before restoring power. It said there has been no damage reported to any of its facilities, gas system or generating assets.
See an earthquake tracker from the San Francisco Chronicle below.
What those who reported feeling the earthquake are sayingA caller from Stockton said the weights on his grandfather clock were swaying. A viewer emailed to say their lights were shaking.A 10-year-old from Vacaville said her pool was shaking and that water was spilling out.Callers from Arden-Arcade said they felt shaking, with one person saying their apartment pool had water spilling out.Stan’s Cafe in Ukiah felt the quake but had no damage.Abhayagirir Buddhist monastery, close to the epicenter, did not have anyone hurt, but a lot of things fell over.
See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google