Author: Lisa Music

Spilled wine and broken glass greeted Mendocino County residents Wednesday after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake rattled the region at 8:10 a.m. — and while the damage was real, experts say the bigger lesson is what Wednesday’s shaking revealed about what a larger quake could do.

A fatal crash involving an empty logging truck closed a stretch of Highway 128 near Navarro Wednesday afternoon, with the Mendocino County Coroner called to the scene.

Broken glass, burst water heaters, and empty store shelves greeted Mendocino County residents Wednesday as they began assessing the damage from a 5.6 magnitude earthquake that struck north of Redwood Valley at 8:10 a.m. — knocking out power to nearly one in five PG&E customers while infrastructure across the region largely held.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck north of Redwood Valley Wednesday morning was no surprise to geologists — the quake hit on the Maacama fault, a major strand of the San Andreas system capable of producing earthquakes up to magnitude 6.5, and aftershocks are expected to continue for days.

A magnitude 5.A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 11 kilometers north of Redwood Valley Wednesday morning, sending alerts from Humboldt County to the Bay Area and prompting immediate emergency response — with power lines down in Willits and CalFire assessing structural damage across the region.

A vegetation fire northwest of Lindley Road near Honeydew has drawn a full wildland fire response, including CAL FIRE air support.