The quake hit at 12:20 p.m. and was centered 28 miles offshore and 7 miles deep, northwest of the small town of Petrolia in Humboldt County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Residents said they could feel the shaker, but it was nowhere near as disconcerting as the magnitude 6.5 quake that struck the region Jan. 9.

That quake was centered 18 miles offshore and wreaked more than $40 million in damage to roads, buildings and power systems in Eureka, Arcata, Ferndale and other North Coast towns.

"Wow, I thought it was wind on my car," said Karen Steinbach, a receptionist at Humboldt County offices in Eureka. "I was sitting in it having lunch and reading, and it felt like it was a strong wind hit the car, and then it passed very quickly.

"The last one was such a violent shake, I was glad this was less so," Steinbach said.

County spokesman Phil Smith-Hanes said there were no immediate reports that anyone had been hurt or anything badly damaged.

"In comparison to the last one, at least our lights are still on," he said. "It definitely did not nearly have the severity of the last one."

In Petrolia, the coastal community closest to the epicenter, some businesses reported a few items falling off shelves.

"It did rock and roll for a few seconds, shaking first once and then a second time," said Richard Gillespie, director of the Mattole Camp and Retreat Center on the edge of Petrolia. "Last time the quake shook everything up and down, but this time it was side to side."

Geological Survey geologist David Schwartz said today's shaker was not an aftershock of last month's. It was a strike-slip quake in the complex region where three crustal plates meet near the Mendocino Fracture Zone fault, he said.

"That area is one of the most seismically active parts of the state, but most people outside of the region generally don't notice the earthquakes there," Schwartz said. "My guess is that after the Jan. 9 event, people are still a bit nervous, so they're paying closer attention."