EAST SHORE — Mother Nature got the attention of a lot of people Thursday with a 5.5-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter about 3½ miles below Lake Almanor’s eastern portion. The shake took place at 4:19 p.m.; people in the Chico, Sacramento and Reno areas, and elsewhere, reported feeling the movement.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey earthquake tracker website, Earth’s action continued through the night and into Friday, though imperceptibly in many cases, with aftershocks in the Lake Almanor area registering below 3.0 on the scale nine times. Only shakes of 3.0 at 5:06 p.m. and 10:45 p.m., and a 3.8 at 7:54 p.m., were likely to get anyone’s attention.
A 5.2-magnitude temblor at 3:18 Friday morning undoubtedly awakened many people in Plumas County and beyond, with aftershocks of 3.1, 3.0, 3.0 and 3.1 peppering the mix starting at 5:42.
A woman who answered the phone at the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said the department had not received any reports of damage nor of injuries resulting from the overnight shakes.
However, Plumas County Supervisor Tom McGowan said Thursday that he received reports of damage in the area but no serious or structural damages. He said propane and water lines in the area were switched off.
Plumas Pines Resort and Bar — located on the lake’s shore between the hamlets of Almanor and Prattville — said in a Facebook post Thursday that its restaurant sustained damage and will be closed through today. It said it will reassess after cleanup to determine what was lost.
In addition, the California Highway Patrol’s Chico dispatch office was not able to receive 911 calls from mobile phones beginning at 4:38 p.m. Thursday. The outage lasted just five minutes and the system works normally now.
