Some Garberville residents suffer thousands of dollars in damage from North Coast earthquake
GARBERVILLE – A State of Emergency was declared in three California counties, including Humboldt County where the manager of Patriot Gas Station shared surveillance video from the moments the powerful 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of California.
Muhammad Ali said he got the notification and almost immediately felt the violent rolling start shaking the store shelves.
"Everything on the top shelf fell down, lost a couple of thousand dollars, maybe more," Ali said. "The cooler was shaking so hard, it was almost like someone who was very strong was pushing against it."
He had one customer in the store at the time that he quickly jumped in to protect and try to guide the customer outside and away from falling debris.
A couple of miles down the road in the town of Redway, the Shop Smart grocery store suffered some of the most significant damage in the area.
Their fire suppression system was damaged and flooded the newest addition just constructed to their store, including surrounding registers.
Store Manager Lisa Connley said they suffered upwards of $40,000 in damages from the mess left behind.
"It was just pouring water, pouring. I was in shock, I just could not imagine," Connley said. "It seemed like there was two earthquakes at once but it just shook different."
Many people CBS News Sacramento spoke to said it felt like a very long and rolling earthquake where minutes felt like hours. Several people said they knew of friends or co-workers whose homes were not built to code and suffered substantial damage.
Many unregulated homes are said to have been lifted from the foundations, along with minor rockslides and damage to roads.
Kevin Canada was fishing when the earthquake hit and says he returned home to find everything turned upside down.
"Stuff was flying around and the lights, the electricity went off," Canada said. "Everything was upside down in there and then my house, pretty much everything came off the ceiling."
The small tight-knit community of Garberville is home to some 1,800 people where everyone just about knows everyone else. Many people said it's important to check on your neighbor and take care of each other.
"Everybody looks out for everybody, and it looks like it's going to be around here," Canada said.
The sheriff's office is asking that anyone who suffered damage, whether a home or business, report damages to the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services (OES) by filling out the 2024 December Earthquake form.
