Magnitude 5.1 quake hits in waters off Northern California coast
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the Northern
California coast on Thursday, about 70 miles (113 km) west of the town
of Ferndale, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A Ferndale police dispatcher
said there were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake, which
according to the USGS's website occurred at 4:16 a.m. Pacific Time.
No
tsunami warning was issued for the area following the magnitude 5.1
quake, according to the USGS and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Ferndale
is about 190 miles (306 km) northwest of Napa, California, where a
magnitude 6.0 earthquake in August struck nearby, injuring more than 200
people and causing millions of dollars in damage to buildings and the
wine industry. In September a woman died of injuries sustained in that
quake.
Deadly winter storms batter California, chill New Year's Eve
Two
people died on a wind-thrashed California island, and scores of
motorists were left stranded on snow-swept mountain roads farther inland
as winter storms chilled much of the Western United States on New
Year's Eve, officials said on Wednesday.
High winds also toppled a tree
onto a home overnight in the Northern California town of Redding,
killing a woman and injuring a child, a fire official said.
A
snowshoer in Colorado was killed by an avalanche that roared down a
mountain peak on Wednesday west of Denver, although his two companions
survived, the Clear Creek County Sheriff's office said.
An
Arctic air mass plunged much of the nation, from the Cascades to New
England, into sub-freezing temperatures, while winter storm warnings
were posted across large swaths of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico
and west Texas.
Extreme weather
prompted officials to cancel a New Year's Eve festival in the Texas
capital, Austin, and forecasters warned that crowds camping out for the
Tournament of Roses Parade should brace for a record freeze in Pasadena,
California.
The Southern
California island of Santa Catalina was battered by gale-force winds
early on Wednesday, stirring 10-foot swells inside Avalon Harbor and
ripping boats from their moorings.
A
harbor patrolman working to secure loose vessels was killed when he
jumped overboard as his boat neared a shoal and he ended up crushed
against the rocks. His body was later recovered, along with the remains
of a man believed to have died when his boat was torn loose and broke
apart overnight, Avalon Fire Captain John Meffert said.
Later
on Wednesday, a freak wind funnel struck a concession area outside
Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium during a pregame event, hurling tents and
canopies through the air as vendors and bystanders ran for cover. Four
people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, fire officials
said.
In the San Bernardino
Mountains east of Los Angeles, county firefighters overnight rescued 136
motorists trapped on icy roads near the town of Crestline.
A
few dozen more vehicles were stuck in snow on a mountain highway east
of San Juan Capistrano, but the California Highway Patrol said rescuers
accounted for all the drivers by afternoon.
About
50 motorists were trapped in and around the Mount Baldy ski area
northeast of Los Angeles. They ended up lodged at a mountain inn or
emergency shelter overnight.
Icy
roads in west Texas led to nearly 130 traffic accidents in the city of
Midland, with almost 200 more wrecks in nearby Odessa. Revelers in many
parts of Texas were likely to brave bitter cold as they ushered in 2015,
including in San Antonio, where up to 60,000 people were expected for
the state's biggest New Year's Eve bash.
Las
Vegas, where some 340,000 visitors were expected for New Year's
celebrations, was expected to receive a half-inch to an inch of snow,
forecasters said.
Temperatures
plunged to a record 19 degrees below zero F on Tuesday night in Denver,
breaking the minus 11-degree mark set in 1898.
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