SACRAMENTO, United States, June 24 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck near Willits city in Northern California's Mendocino County on Wednesday, injuring some people and disrupting utilities and businesses, according to state officials and local media reports.
The quake also triggered advance alerts through California's Earthquake Early Warning System to more than 1 million people before shaking began, the California governor's office said.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck at 8:10 a.m. local time (1510 GMT) about 11 km north of Redwood Valley, at a depth of about 8 km.
There have been some injuries but no deaths, local media said, citing the Mendocino County Executive Office. The quake knocked out power and water service for thousands and caused household items and store merchandise to fall from shelves.
Local News Matters, a Northern California community news outlet, reported that more than 4,000 customers remained without power across northern Mendocino County.
NBC Bay Area, a San Francisco television affiliate, reported that there was no significant damage to city infrastructure in Willits, while two grocery stores closed for inspections and repairs.
KQED, a San Francisco public broadcaster, reported that the ShakeAlert system, a USGS seismic detection network that powers California's earthquake warnings, detected the quake within five and a half seconds.
According to the report, people close to the epicenter experienced "very strong to severe shaking," while people farther from the epicenter may have felt slight movement or nothing. ■