The first quake struck at about 10:45 a.m. off the coast of Petrolia, which is in Humboldt County about 100 miles south of the Oregon border. Its initial magnitude was measured at 6.6, according to the USGS, but has since been upgraded to magnitude 7.0.
A second earthquake struck near Cobb, to the south, measured at magnitude 5.8.
Several strong aftershocks were also recorded around both locations.
"It was a strong quake, our building shook, we’re fine, but I have a mess to clean up right now," said Julie Kreitzer, owner of Golden Gait Mercantile, a store packed with food, wares and souvenirs that is a main attraction in Ferndale.
There were no immediate reports of major injuries.
The National Weather Service immediately issued a tsunami warning along the coast from the Santa Cruz area north to Douglas County, Oregon. That warning included the San Francisco Bay area.
Tsunami waves were expected to hit San Francisco about noon. Mayor London Breed said the city activated the Emergency Operations Center and told the public to move off the coast and at least one block inland.
No tsunami waves materialized, though, and the warning was canceled a few minutes after noon.
"This was not a false alarm; this was a real concern and we need to be prepared," noted Capt. Justin Schorr of the San Francisco Fire Department.
Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska, said the computer models indicated that this was the type of earthquake that was unlikely to cause a tsunami and gauges that monitor waves then confirmed it, so forecasters canceled the warning.
This quake was a strike-slip type of temblor that shifts more horizontally and is less prone to cause tsunamis, unlike the more vertical types, said National Weather Service tsunami program manager Corina Allen in Washington state.
The California Geological Survey says the state’s shores have been struck by more than 150 tsunamis since 1800, and while most were minor, some have been destructive and deadly.
On March 28, 1964, a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake in Alaska smashed into Crescent City hours later. Much of the business district was leveled and a dozen people were killed. More recently, a tsunami from a 2011 earthquake in Japan caused about $100 million in damages along the California coast, much of it in Crescent City.
Reports of some minor quake damage were beginning to come in to KTVU FOX 2.
Caroline Titus posted a video of shattered bottles at the Victorian Inn in Ferndale, which is just north of Petrolia.
The city of Berkeley issued an evacuation order for West Berkeley because of the quakes, while the San Francisco Zoo closed for the day because of the tsunami warnings.
Ferndale City Clerk Kristine Hall said the city manager and police were "combing" the town, and also found no immediate reports of injury or damage, minus a few things falling to the ground.
"Yeah, people are still freaked out," Hall said, adding that she hid under her desk when the quake hit.
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