Earthquake off the California coast

USGS describes what happened during the earthquake off the California coast

From CNN's Elise Hammond

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake that struck off the coast of Northern California was typical of the area, and it has not received any detailed reports of damage or landslides related to the event as of right now.

In a briefing on Thursday, Stephen DeLong, a supervisory research geologist at the USGS, said the earthquake occurred “well off shore.” The epicenter of the quake was about 50 miles southwest of Eureka, California, over the Pacific Ocean, the USGS previously said.

DeLong said the tectonic plate to the north moved to the right and the plate to the south moved to the left.

“Because of this strong motion, there was initially concern about tsunamis, but it is very likely that most of the motion was actually horizontal rather than vertical — which is what tends to cause tsunamis caused by earthquakes under the sea,” DeLong said.

Still, estimates and data shows that there were intensity 8 levels of shaking, which is considered “severe shaking,” according to Robert de Groot, the ShakeAlert national coordinator for communication, education and outreach at USGS.

People could have seen things falling off of shelves, furniture being moved or windows breaking, he said.