Following a woefully belated response by California authorities' to the dangerous situation unfolding at the Lake Oroville Dam in Northern California over the weekend, an evacuation order forcing some 200,000 people living below the tallest dam in the US remained in place early on Monday after residents were abruptly told to flee when a spillway appeared in danger of collapse.
The US Geological Survey has reported a magnitude 6.5 earthquake off the coast of Northern California The quake occurred in the Pacific Ocean about 100 miles off the coast of Eureka at around 6:50 a.m. on Thursday. The epicentre was 165km west of Ferndale, California, at a shallow depth of 10km ((6.2 miles) below sea level. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued. Earlier reports from the USGS said the earthquake was a magnitude 6.8 Two quakes of more than 4.0-magnitude have shaken California in the last week.