--- description: Highest magnitude quake on West Coast since 2010 title: Northern California Earthquake: 6.9 Magnitude, but No Injuries image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Big Earthquake in Northern California Has Little Impact  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 10, 2014 12:30 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 10, 2014 12:30 PM CUT A 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Northern California produced only minor aftershocks Sunday night, despite being the highest magnitude quake there since 2010. Nobody was injured and no property was reported damaged when the aftershocks hit land, according to Sgt. Brian Stephens of the Eureka Police. Offshore aftershocks registered as high as 4.6, but the strongest aftershock on land was only 3.4\. Residents told the [Los Angeles _Times_ ](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-69-northern-california-earthquake-followed-by-aftershocks-20140310,0,4495673.story#axzz2vYkrAtMQ "undefined")they didn’t experience a violent shake, but instead a more gentle rocking sensation that was longer than other earthquakes. “I’ve been through a number of these,” Mike Melter of Ferndale told [KTVU-TV](http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/usgs-61-magnitude-earthquake-hits-norcal-coast/nd8zk/ "undefined"). “It wasn’t a jolter; it was a wave.” “It just kept going and going, very slowly and softly,” said Raquel Maytorena, also of Ferndale. “It was not violent. It almost felt like you were in a boat that was rocking, No tsunami warnings were issued. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/18017/big-earthquake-in-northern-california-has-little-impact/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/18017/big-earthquake-in-northern-california-has-little-impact/"},"headline":"Big Earthquake in Northern California Has Little Impact","datePublished":"2014-03-10T12:30:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:40:27.792Z","description":"A 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern California produced only minor aftershocks on Sunday night, despite being the largest quake there since 2010. There were no reported injuries","url":"https://time.com/18017/big-earthquake-in-northern-california-has-little-impact/","keywords":["California","Earthquake"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/18017/big-earthquake-in-northern-california-has-little-impact/","name":"Big Earthquake in Northern California Has Little Impact"}}]}] ```