Quake kills shoppers in US street

Two women were killed when a roof collapsed on to them outside a dress shop as a powerful earthquake hit southern California.

At least 40 people were injured when the quake, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, struck near the coast midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco last night.

Rescue workers are today braced for several aftershocks. The worst damage was in the small town of Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County.

The streets were busy with Christmas shoppers when the quake hit, causing a 100-year-old building and a clock tower to collapse, crushing a row of parked cars. Several people were reported injured by falling wine barrels that broke open at a nearby vineyard shop, sending a wave of wine rushing through the building.

Shop owner Nick Sherwin said: "My roof basically jumped on to the street and landed on cars with people in them."

He said that the cars were "crushed like little toys". Buildings swayed 165 miles away in San Francisco.