Spilled Wine and Broken Glass: Mendocino County Shaken but Largely Unscathed — This Time

Damage to Testa Vineyards in Calpella. [Photo submitted]

It was a scene repeated throughout the region — store merchandise on the floor, broken glassware, cracked shop windows, televisions knocked over, pictures off walls, water heaters broken loose. Messy, costly, and unsettling. But not, for most, catastrophic.

“We came out of this way better than what Humboldt did a few years ago,” Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall said Wednesday afternoon. “I think everybody in Northern Mendocino and Southern Humboldt should feel pretty fortunate.”

The quake struck at 8:10 a.m., centered about 11 kilometers north of Redwood Valley on the Maacama fault, a major strand of the San Andreas system that runs directly beneath Willits and the surrounding communities that felt it hardest. Willits and Redwood Valley bore the brunt. Ukiah, closer to the epicenter in some respects, seemed to escape the worst, likely a function of soil composition and local geology as much as distance, experts say.

One person was injured Kendall said, they tripped leaving their home during the shaking and had to be seen by medical personnel. No major structural damage to hospitals, water systems, or public facilities was reported.

Power Out — Then Back On

The most widespread impact was the loss of power. At peak, roughly 8,000 PG&E customers across Mendocino County were without electricity. But most outages were not the result of downed lines — rather, lines swinging and touching each other during the shaking triggered automatic safety shutoffs designed to protect the grid.

PG&E crews responded quickly, with what appeared to be a contract helicopter flying lines within hours of the quake. By 6 p.m., the utility confirmed essentially all earthquake-related outages had been restored. By 7:48 p.m., just two customers countywide remained without power — both unrelated to the quake.

“Minor damage was found at two locations on our electric system,” PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian said. “That damage has been repaired. No damage to PG&E critical facilities, gas system or generating assets have been reported.”

The county’s Emergency Operations Center was up and running within 15 minutes. Medical clinics in Laytonville and Round Valley stayed operational on backup generators throughout. CHP checked all bridges and overcrossings in the Laytonville area — no damage found. State Senator Mike McGuire confirmed no major infrastructure damage in Ukiah, Willits, or Covelo.

The Lesson in the Spilled Wine

What Testa Vineyards lost Wednesday, and what fell off shelves and walls across the county, is worth paying attention to, not just as a cleanup task, but as a preview.

What topples in a 5.6 will cause significantly more damage in a 6.5. What broke a water heater loose Wednesday could rupture a gas line next time. The Maacama fault is capable of producing earthquakes in that range, according to Lori Dengler, Emeritus Professor of Geology at Cal Poly Humboldt.

“You’re going to survive that next big earthquake,” Dengler said Wednesday, “but you’re going to be really uncomfortable if you have not taken action to store food and water and medicines beforehand. Think being stuck without anything for two weeks.”

Eric Riggs, Dean of the College of Natural Resources and Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt, said Wednesday’s quake was a good reminder to dust off the family emergency plan and make sure supplies are where they should be.

Kendall’s advice for the moment shaking begins is, “Get under a table,” he said. “Cover your head up, because head injuries are bad.”

Several aftershocks continued through the day, including a 2.8 near Redwood Valley at 10:47 a.m., a 2.7 near Willits at 10:58 a.m., and a 2.8 near Redwood Valley at 4:07 p.m. More are expected.

The World Was Shaking Too

Mendocino’s 5.6M was not even the biggest earthquake of the day.

Hours later, a magnitude 7.2 foreshock struck near San Felipe, Venezuela, followed just 40 seconds later by a 7.5 magnitude quake that collapsed buildings in the capital of Caracas and prompted Venezuela to declare a state of emergency. A 6.9 magnitude earthquake also struck near Kuji, Japan the same afternoon.

Caltech seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones noted that the three major earthquakes, in Japan, Venezuela, and California, are not connected, occurring on separate fault systems and plate boundaries.

For Mendocino County, Wednesday was a reminder, and a relatively gentle one. The wine can be replaced. The lesson in it shouldn’t be wasted.

Report Your Damage

Even minor damage matters. Mendocino County is collecting reports to compile a complete picture of what Wednesday’s quake caused — data the state uses to assess infrastructure needs and potential disaster declarations. A cracked wall, broken water heater, or fallen chimney all count.

Report damage at the Mendocino County Damage Assessment Form.

For earthquake preparedness resources, visit the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group at rctwg.humboldt.edu or follow them on Facebook at RCTWG.

Redheaded Blackbelt spoke Wednesday with Dr. Eric Riggs of Cal Poly Humboldt about expanded earthquake monitoring technology being developed for the North Coast. We’ll have that report Friday.