adapt and keep businesses going for years to come. you can watch on our website or lx.com. breaking at 6:00, a strong, early morning earthquake rocks northern california causing damage and leaving thousands of people without power right now. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. thanks for starting your tuesday morning with us. i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. that 6.4 magnitude earthquake in northern california this morning, here is our seismograph capturing the quake when it happened about 2:30 this morning. that quake centered in ferndale in humboldt county near the city of eureka. there is no threat of tsunami and still no word of any injuries. now the number of customers without power right now is about

71,000. pg&e saying that it has activated its emergency response plan to respond to gas and other electrical hazards. >> new video in ferndale, the epicenter showing several items that fell over this is a coffee bar inside somebody's home and the homeowner told us she is okay and there's only minor damage. this photo shows minor damage in a restroom sent to us by ria espinoza who lives in a neighboring city but grew up in san rafael. she is planning to drive back to marin for the holidays this is how she described the shaking. >> it felt like turbulence on an airplane, intense turbulence. >> emergency services took to facebook saying there is widespread damage to roads and homes and are asking residents to prepare for aftershocks. kari, i was shocked to hear how

many aftershocks. we've had a lot of aftershocks. it happened at 2:34 in the morning. the large yellow circle shows that time. since then the other yellow circles are aftershocks. and the red ones are the ones that have happened within the last hour and there have been numerous reports. we're up to 109 at this point and they are feeling that shaking. we had people in the north bay and parts of the bay area feel that shaking. the san andreas fault comes to an end. they're on the northern edge and then it meets with the pacific plates and north american plates but it's an active seismic zone. you talk about a 6.4 magnitude

earthquake that produces very strong energy. property damage likely. structuring damage to bridges and buildings in the area. that would cause some violent shaking and you probably got that alert this morning. if you did, here are those reminders not to run out of the building. think about debris that could fall. interior walls are usually best and as we see the aftershocks will continue. remember to drop, cover and hold. in and out of ferndale, fern

bridge is closed. they are on scene as the state senator told us. look at this picture on twitter. i don't know what the damage is officially. that's why they've closed fern bridge. fern bridge connects with highway 101 over eagle river. that bridge is open. connecting folks down there is a roadway that we've been talking about. whoever is in charge of that closure they have closed that roadway as well. the reason why it's not really affecting us as far as the

shaking, look how far to the north. there were no impacts to our bridges or transit agencies. it's fern bridge in ferndale that is the problem with the closure and the damage we just saw. back to you. >> thank you, mike. we sent a push notification on our free nbc bay area news app. be sure to download to receive any reports. more breaking news to tell you about this morning just coming in. oakland police confirming the two missing teenaged sisters have been found safe. family members say they left the home sunday night. they were considered at risk because of their ages. they have now been found safe.

a judge may decide whether or not to release a teenager into his parents' custody. investigators say the car driven by the unidentified 17-year-old collided with another car and killed grace and greg amman. they arrested 23-year-old kyle harrison. investigators believe they were racing more than 80 miles an hour on el camino real. their 7-year-old twin daughters did survive the crash. it's not clear if the 17-year-old will be tried as an adult. two recent incidents at the refinery in martinez.

several tons of dust-laden material spewed into the air. leaders were on hand to apologize for not promptly notifying the public. >> we are disappointed in ourselves. we apologize. >> the newly elected mayor will post results on social media. they are planning to create an oversight committee. crunch time. holiday travel rush is about to get under way. airlines bracing for the very real possibility that winter storms will wreak havoc. blizzard conditions may bring travel to a standstill in some places over the coming days and

there is a strong storm looming. more from maggie vespa. >> reporter: a slammed o'hare airport, one of the busiest. during the holidays things have been nuts the last couple of days. a post pandemic record. combine that with the potential curveball that is the severe winter storm building across the country from the pacific northwest through the great plains and northeast. almost every region expecting snow, ice, potentially severe winds and that could throw a huge wrench into this holiday travel. united and american airlines are waiving rebooking fees. if you are driving check the forecast along your route so you

are not leaving during the worst conditions. >> meteorologist kari hall is monitoring that. looking at forecasts all over the map. >> possibly a ripple effect when we look at storms elsewhere. still a lot of rain along the gulf coast. the plunge of the polar vortex, these are today's high temperatures. minneapolis, zero. that's the high temperature for today. it will be bitterly cold and that could impact a lot of travel plans. we will continue to monitor that. we will call our family, it will be in the low 50s and upper 60s today. it will get warmer. today we're headed for 55

degrees. cool in some areas as the clouds linger. more sunshine later today. trying to find the cheapest places to fill up. great gas, $2.89. in the south bay san jose's costco is the best with a few pennies to spare. in the north bay at the bottom of the screen, san rafael. the arco. a good assortment of prices. lighter traffic flow. the san mateo bridge cleared. b.a.r.t. reporting about 20-minute delays.

good news cal trains is back. the backup at the bay bridge is there. the backup is still there. >> thananks, mike. capturered on camera,, vidi cacatching a fedex workeker not dropping off packages but picking them up. we'll show you what happened. elon musk asks should he leave twitter? and millions say yes. musk said must be bots. looks like a light opening this morning. changes at the bank of japan. >> i wouldn't be surprised if he did say that, scott. the homecoming for soccer's world cup champions. to argentina where the massive

celebration is under way. much more ahead on "toy in the baday.

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good tuesday morning. at 6:14 as we take a live look outside in downtown san jose, christmas in the park all lit up and only 46 degrees. at least it is warmer than we've seen recently and we're headed for a warmer afternoon.

we'll take a look at the forecast coming up. a smooth drive on the nimitz. better news for the b.a.r.t. tracks leaving fruitvale and coliseum stations less of a delay. there was some sort of equipment problem on the tracks. recovery should be in motion. >> shares in amazon fell monday. stocks saw a huge boost in the pandemic. now it's back down to where it was before coronavirus. tesla closed below $150. it looked like elon musk might step down from twitter. musk's time at twitter has been bad for tesla stock. musk posted a poll asking if he should step down and an

overwhelming number said yesterday. he back tracked saying only people who pay for a blue check should be allowed to vote. musk agreed and said he believed bots voted against him. he ran polls in the past and results that seemed to agree with what he wanted he went with never mentioning bots. more emails and other company documents in a program calling the twitter files. the latest show the previous head of trust and safety felt pressure from the fbi. the fbi reacting to the 2020 election where russian intelligence pushed false stories on american social media. the head pushed back saying he had not seen evidence of widespread falsehood. the same exec is in hiding after

elon musk made allegations on twitter with no proof but caused some users to make death threats. the maker of fortnite will pay a huge settlement around half a billion to the federal government. allegations it tricked kids into spending their parents' money inside the game and gathered personal information about users under 13. the new congressional spending bill, which is super spendy, by the way, has a line in it prohibiting the use of tiktok on government-owned phones. there is a concern the parent company of tiktok shares data with the chinese government. they say it doesn't. to be clear there is legislation proposed that would ban tiktok for everyone no matter whose phone it is. that is moving slowly forward as well. i think there are a lot of people, millions of users, who will be disappointed by that. >> to not use them on government

phones is understandable. >> is it about privacy or the awkward dancing at the pentagon? >> there's so much of the floss. >> thanks, scott. holiday cheer turned upside-down in southern california where police are searching for a grinch dressed as a fedex delivery person. this is video near san diego. you see the person walk up with a small package in hand and leave one. they believe the thief is tailing the delivery trucks. he arrives within minutes of a door stop delivery. >> the package came at 12:41 and the package left at -- he came at 12:45. >> fedex issued a statement reading these reports are highly concerning. some relief may be on the

way for skyrocketing lettuce prices. pathogens in lettuce cited for shortages including local crops. they are not believed to affect humans but led to higher prices. lettuce season began in arizona. they had atypical cold weather and rain. prices remained high. >> i need that for my sanchez salad. a live look in buenos aires. argentina's world championship team is being honored. just a sea of people. the team did arrive to crowds waiting for them at the airport. they wanted to green the captain

lionel messi and the rest of the team. this is argentina's first world cup title since 1986. 36 1/2 years. >> they didn't have to wait as long as warriors fans. >> the wait is over now. >> we understand. time to get a look at the forecast. another cold one out there. it's cold and we've had to deal with fog. it's still unhealthy for people who have breathing problems when we measure the pollution and the measurements are unhealthy. our weather pattern is changing and we're already not seeing as much fog.

not too bad for your drive. 53 the highs in napa, clouds still lingering there. away from the clouds a lot more sunshine. 60 for san martin. tonight is cold once again. we're not talking about freezing as well as any frosty conditions. that's still pretty cold. now that high pressure is setting up and it's giving us the stagnant air and the fog. we're seeing the storm systems working on that and moving just off to our north like the rain we are seeing this morning. better rain chances ahead. looks like by next tuesday and

then again on thursday we could see some more active weather for the bay area. the rain outlook is not showing us as much. a quarter inch for ukiah and thursday but next week is when it looks like we could see a change in the possibility of three-quarters of an inch to possibly 1 to 2 inches. we will see the rain chances increasing on thursday. ahead of that we'll officially start winter. mike, it seems like a light commute. the earlier commute is lighter and that allowed the san mateo bridge traffic to clear. we are seeing this problem north

680 has a crew at the southern part of sunol. there's a crew and a closure. folks are taking the reroute. b.a.r.t. still has a 15-minute depp lay out of fruitvale and the coliseum station. >> thank you, mike. recovering from overspending. with holidays fast approaching many people are struggling to make it in the bay.

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new this morning we are days away from christmas but there's still time to get that holiday shopping done. but before you swipe your credit card, check where you stand financially. experts say overspending grows exponentially around the holidays. according to one study sponsored by credit karma just under 40% of americans say they won't be able to afford the upfront costs of gifts this holiday season. 70% plan to take on some debt. i spoke about the steps you should take ahead of the new year. >> take time to check in now on where finances stand. it's important that you know exactly where you stand so you can make a plan to get back on

track for 2023. this includes knowing exactly what you owe across all of your different accounts and making a plan to pay it off as soon as possible. secondly we encourage folks to make a plan for their tax refund. taxes are not top of mind for anyone at the holidays. that tax refund is the extra biggest paycheck or windfall they may get. if you are taking on debt and expect to receive a tax refund, make a plan and commitment to put a portion toward your debt. >> the earlier you file your taxes, the earlier you get your refund. 6:27. an update on this morning's breaking news north of the bay area. that strong earthquake rocking

humboldt county. we'll talk to

it started rocking and rolling and you knew it was a big one. a 6.4 earthquake rocking northern california. we are getting new reports of that damage.

our team is breaking down the up-to-the-minute results from what's happening there coming in to our newsroom. this is "today in the bay" live for you on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. we want to say good tuesday morning to you. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm kris sanchez. laura garcia has the morning off. it was a strong earthquake early this morning in northern california. this is the seismograph. the quake was centered in ferndale near eureka and humboldt county. no threat of a tsunami at this point. two people are reported injured. there is no update on the severity of their injuries. pg&e is activaing an emergency response.

new video is showing the damage inside of a store in eureka and you can see there a lot of those items just falling off the shelves of that store just cluttering the aisleway. video showing damage in ferndale, the epicenter of that quake. we spoke with caroline titus who lives in that home. she tells us she was woken up by the shaking and her coffee bar tumbled to the ground. >> things fell over and you can tell that pattern of north to south shaking. it was a good one. lasted for a while it seemed. runs through your mind is this going to keep going or end? >> they also felt a lot of small ones. we've had a lot of aftershocks since that first initial earthquake that happened

at this morning. the large yellow circle. all of the other circles are aftershocks. now we're up to 134 aftershocks after that initial one. a lot of shaking today as they are dealing with rain. a lot of people without power. it's cold and now it's raining. as far as who felt it, you can see where that initial earthquake happened and the yellows and reds indicate where the concentration of people were when they felt it. people felt some shaking when they got that alert this morning. looking at the san andreas fault

and the northern edge, an active seismic zone. the pacific and north american plate, it is an active region. we sometimes get reports of large quakes in the area. it was a 6.4 and a 6 indicates it will be very strong, will most likely produce property damage. we saw that and it impacted structures in the area. for safety's sake, this bridge here, fern bridge which we have marked behind it, the river, eel river valley along 101. let me show you why they closed it. there's some damage here. they're worried about structural damage to the bridge. if i saw that crack, i would not want to travel that span.

the bridge over eel river. this is one crossing. you have to get across the river to get to highway 101. that looks like it's open. i did ask for confirmation. connecting the two areas, there may be some damage to that roadway causing that to be closed as well. watching for those updates. that's how far we are over 185 miles down to san francisco. no impact to our bridges or transit. why this earthquake happened 185 miles from us here, it serves as an important reminder we should always be prepared. >> the my shake app delivers the

earthquake alert straight to your phone. >> thank you for joining us, jose. >> thank you for having me, first of all. part of the reason why the my shake app delivers alerts is a combination of a threshold being made which is the earthquake but also the relative shaking. the original estimation was the shaking may arrive down to the north bay area but sacramento area. >> talk to us again about what people should do to prepare. one can hit any moment and we don't know the size it will be.

>> that's right. this is just a reminder california is earthquake country. there are things you can do to be better prepared. the first is download the my shake app. it can provide you critical life-saving seconds when an earthquake strikes. available in english and spanish. you can build a preparedness plan, identify potential hazards in your home, evacuation routes in case you need to leave your area. build an emergency kit something that includes water, food, medication but critical medications that you may need for the long haul. >> how often should you change that kit?

it depends on you. i check it every 30 days to make sure everything is the way it should be, that my medications haven't expired, my food hasn't expired. i do want to say this is a great example of the early warning system being able to deliver alerts to californians throughout. we were able to deliver early warnings. >> those extra seconds allow you to stop, drop, take cover and hold on. thank you for joining us this morning. another reminding that we always have to be ready. make sure you stay with us on nbc bay area as we bring you that coverage onair and online. you can get updates sent to your phone. we do have our free nbc bay area

app for those devices. 6:38. new video from overnight. one person died and another person was seriously injured after a car plunged off grisly peak at 1:00 in the morning and led to a big response from oakland police rescue teams. investigators are still looking into that cause. drugstores are limiting the sale of pain and fever relief medication. >> bob, these restrictions are in response to one of the worst flu seasons we've seen in years. >> reporter: you are correct. good morning to you. two major drugstores are restricting the purchase. cvs, restricting people to the purchase of two fever and pain relief medications for children.

this is both in store and online. walgreens is limiting purchases to six over-the-counter medications per online sales. experiencing one of the worst flu seasons in a decade. there is a surge in rsv, a respiratory virus. experts tell nbc news that respiratory viruses are hitting young children hard because their immune systems are more vulnerable after remaining at home more than three years during the pandemic. >> if you have a fever, a mild cough, try to treat the symptoms at home. if you are severely short of breath, really nauseated and vomiting, come to the hospital. >> reporter: many are filling up

because of the tripledemic. according to the cdc the spread of covid has increased 35% the past two weeks and over the past ten weeks more than 9,300 have died. bob redell, "today in the bay." >> another warning and advice for people out there. bob, thank you. clearing california's death row. ahead capital punishment has been on hold since governor newsom took office. the steps that would have to happen first before the change becomes permanent. a possible reprieve for the southern border as the supreme court pauses a decision on title 42. >> reporter: i'm surrounded by aisles of toys packed and ready

to be given away. the toy distribution is set to kick off this morning. stay with us. we'll tell you more about it.

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santa clara valley. a change is about to give us some fresh breezes. what's ahead coming up. and here is what's ahead heading to the bay bridge. they are visibly moving. we have metering lights on. quick recovery but delays for b.a.r.t. riders coming up. new for you this morning governor gavin newsom is reportedly considering california's death row. this comes after oregon governor commuted the sentences of all 17 remaining death row inmates there last week. when governor newsome took office he halted all executions. the state currently has 674 inmates in san quentin's death row.

approval is required in order to commute death sentences. the supreme court has temporarily blocked the lower court's order of title 42. >> that gives the biden administration a bit more time to prepare. >> it may be days but it is more time. the high court pausing the process to look at the case. we do expect a quick decision. take a look at the situation in el paso. a federal appeals court told the biden administration it had to get rid of title 42, a coronavirus-era rule put in place by the trump administration to prevent asylum seekers from entering the united states all in the name of protecting health. the appeals court said that was not a proper use of the rule and told the white house to end it giving the white house a very short time.

then a group of republican states sued trying to stop the end of the rule saying they would be overwhelmed by asylum seekers. the lower court rejected that suit and now it has been appealed to the u.s. supreme court. which has paused the whole thing. congress has a spending bill in place. they just unveiled it this morning and it's very spendy. both republicans and democrats ready to vote on it to prevent the government from running out of money by the end of the week. more money for defense, more money for ukraine, even a ban on tiktok on government phones. it's all in there. president biden spoke out against anti-semitism at a hanukkah ceremony at the white house monday. the president and first lady were joined from the rabbi from texas, the congregation held hostage by a british man back in january of this year. the committee investigating the

attack sent a criminal referral to the justice department recommending it prosecute former president trump for crimes against the united states. trump responded on his truth social saying he had already been charged and called it double jeopardy. double jeopardy says you can't be tried twice for the same crime but impeachment is not the same. double jeopardy does not apply. if you have questions or ideas or thoughts on title 42 it is an interesting topic that affects us all. get in touch with me on facebook. >> the season of giving is in full swing in san francisco. the salvation army kicks off its toy distribution. >> "today in the bay's" ginger conejero saab at the distribution center.

>> reporter: good morning to you. a lot of little elves have been hard at work packing and getting these toys ready to be distributed today. i've been wanting to say angel food cake off morning. it's really going to make christmas brighter for over 19 children and their families. captain erin, you have been working hard at this. >> we are tired but excited to meet the families. over 1,000 children will be helped through this program. making christmas brighter by giving them a hand up. >> reporter: look at the

turnout. it's been a success so far. there are other options. >> you can go online and give at salvationarmy.org. we would love to have your change go into the red kettles. >> reporter: we mentioned there's something special for families, not just the kids, what do you have for the families? >> we wanted to go further so they get a gift card to help them buy food. >> reporter: that sounds great. thank you for the hard work you continously do. donate to make christmas or even the year easier.

merry christmas. santa is busy in other parts of the world. >> it takes the whole north pole village. thank you, ginger. it is chilly out there. some kids are already out of school. >> you do still need to bunding up. you can leave the umbrella at home though we have light showers on the radar. we are seeing the clouds moving in helping to change our weather pattern and the fog at ground level is not as dense as we saw the past couple of days. not as bad as you start out the day. reaching 55 in novato and

oakland and hayward, warmer where we get more sunshine today in san jose. we're in the upper 30s and low 40s to start out. we're going to see a change with more storms moving to our north. really dry air is blocking it. that will allow for the next storm system and the next week a better chance of heavier downpours, more measurable rain and sierra snow moving in next tuesday as well as next thursday. between now and the weekend a quarter inch of rain for ukiah. elsewhere it's not much of anything. we could see the less rain on

southward but it could be 1 to 2 inches for the north bay. that's for next week. in the near term we're getting ready to officially start winter and wouldn't you know it, it's going to finally warm up, reach into the mid-60s for christmas day and also a lot of sunshine. mike, you have a continued alert for transit riders. it's for b.a.r.t. over 20 minutes for the lines traveling between fruitvale and the coliseum station. an issue on the tracks. problems for the berryessa line. back to normal service, more access through the tri-valley.

680 is open. light traffic this week and next week. look at 101 slowing from capital expressway. thank you, mike. california's department of education released its first set of data dashboards in two years because of the pandemic. enrollment levels, absenteeism and graduation rates and some bay area districts performed better than others. some north bay schools are approaching 20% of students still lower than the statewide rate which is closer to 30%. a strong early morning earthquake striking the humboldt area. lots of damage and the first word about

we're just a few minutes from 7:00. one last look at our breaking news. 6.4 earthquake in northern california this morning. this is the seismograph capturing the moment that quake hit about 2:30 in the morning. >> it was in the ferndale area in humboldt county in the city of eureka or near that city. there is no threat of a tsunami and at least two injuries are confirmed this hour. we don't know the condition of the victims. i want to show you video. this is damage inside one store. you can see items falling onto

the floor. >> damage inside a home in ferndale as well. the homeowner told us the coffee bar fell over but most of the damage is minor. >> right now 149 reports of aftershocks. that initial earthquake was at 2:34 and it's still shaking. >> this is a bigger concern for drivers. a big crack in the roadway why they've closed fern bridge. look at the maps. they cannot cross the eel river there. the alternate for eagle prairie bridge to the south in rio dell. >> you'll need to know that heading to check on your families.

you can get the app to stay up-to-date. >> we will continue to monitor and will good tuesday morning. get ready to pack your patience if you are traveling for the holidays this week. >> there is a massive winter storm taking shape. it's already impacting the nation's airports and the nation's roads. it's december 20th. this is "today." christmas week chaos. alerts stretching from the west coast into the midwest. nearly 80 million people told to brace for snow, rain and bone-chilling temperatures creating horrendous travel conditions. from when it's starting to where it's heading, we will have