The earthquake caused damage to businesses in Fortuna

FORTUNA, Calif.(KIEM)- Today’s 6.2 magnitude earthquake West of Petrolia resulted in damages across the North Coast. In Fortuna, local businesses suffered from the magnitude of the earthquake. Causing many damages to windows and merchandise, many businesses were closed, causing businesses owners to rush down to their shops to see the damage. 

“It looks like it’s just stuff off the shelves and everything like that, so hopefully that is it; we were fortunate, windows are bad enough, but we could have been so much worse,” said Cathy Comerer, Owner of Fortuna Fabrics & Crafts.

The Police Department for the City of Fortuna walked down Main street and checked in at each business to ensure everyone was okay and assessed the damage caused to the properties.

“No calls of any injuries. Typically in this kind of event, our dispatch center is inundated with alarm companies calling because it triggers a lot of calls, so our officers were filling a lot of those calls. We did have some calls of property damage and some broken water pipes that we notified public works for,” said Matthew Eberhardy, Lieutenant of Fortuna Police Department.

Most of the damage seen by the Fortuna Police Department was to local businesses located on Main street since there are antique shops and jewelry stores. 

On the blocks of main street and 10th, business owners were boarding up their storefronts due to windows shattering caused by the earthquake.

“Windows are usually about 12 to 14 hundred,” said Cathy Comerer.

Businesses hope that the worst has occurred and the aftershocks don’t cause any more damage.