 The three shocks damaged and destroyed homes and businesses in Humboldt County and injured 356 people , but the single largest loss was due to a post @-@ earthquake fire that consumed a business center in Scotia . Accelerometers that had been in place in the Cape Mendocino area since the late 1970s recorded the event and the readings were moderate to strong , with the exception of the instruments closest to the epicenter , which went off scale a few seconds into the recording . No surface ruptures were present in the epicentral area , but landslides closed roads and railroad tracks for at least a week while cleanup took place . Also discovered was about 1 m ( 3 ft 3 in ) of coastal uplift near Cape Mendocino and Punta Gorda . 
