Late Tuesday morning, the Bay Area was rocked by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, which startled nerves but did not appear to inflict any substantial damage. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 12.1 miles east of San Jose and occurred around 11:42 in the morning, according to the United States Geological Survey. Aftershocks of varying magnitudes continued for several hours following the first quake, beginning at 11:47 a.m. and continuing until 3:08 p.m., respectively. A seismologist with the United States Geological Survey named Annemarie Baltay stated that the location of the epicenter shows that the earthquake occurred inside the Calaveras fault zone.
Record on previous earthquake readings
According to nbcbayarea in line with Baltay, the shaking was “widely felt,” and as of one o’clock in the afternoon, there were over 18,000 complaints of people asking “did you feel it?” These reports originated as far afield as Sonoma County, Sacramento, and Central California. According to what Baltay remarked, “the shaking of the ground appears to have been slightly less than what our models projected for this magnitude earthquake.” Since the magnitude 6.0 Napa earthquake that occurred in 2014, the 5.1 magnitude quake was the greatest earthquake to hit the Bay Area since then. Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist, stated on Tuesday that the earthquake that occurred on Tuesday was the strongest tremor that has been reported in the South Bay since a quake with a magnitude of 5.4 rocked the Alum Rock area in 2007.
According to Baltay, there is a one in one hundred possibility that an aftershock with a magnitude larger than 5.0 may take place during the next day. Over the course of the next week, there may be between 10 and 15 aftershocks of magnitude 3.0 or higher. Aftershocks of this magnitude and duration are quite usual for an occurrence of this nature, according to Baltay, who made this statement. According to Jones, the Calaveras fault is a significant offshoot of the San Andreas fault and stretches for 138 miles from San Juan Bautista in the south to San Ramon in the north. It is located in California.
Official’s statement
According to Baltay, the Calaveras fault has been the epicenter of a number of moderate earthquakes, including one that measured 6.2 on the Richter scale that occurred in Morgan Hill in 1984. The shaking that occurred on Tuesday was “beyond anything I ever can recall,” said to Lynn Meyer of Morgan Hill, who was born and raised in the Bay Area and experienced the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
She stated that she had just come in from her garage when she heard what sounded like a bomb going off. She was terrified. She remarked, “At first, I thought there had been an explosion.” The sound was as loud as a thunderstorm. When she went in the door, a floor lamp toppled over and came dangerously close to hitting her. She explained it like this: “Everything started shaking terribly, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m in a big, major earthquake.'”
Although Meyer was not hurt in the incident, two mirrors that were hanging in her home broke. According to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, often known as Cal OES, the earthquake early warning system in California reportedly alerted nearly 100,000 people before to the beginning of the shaking. These people reported receiving the warning before the shaking began. According to the organization, the amount of advanced notification ranged from two seconds for individuals who were very close to the epicenter to 18 seconds for those who were in San Francisco.
Trains were halted by a number of commuter rail companies, including Caltrain and BART, so that damage could be inspected. By the early afternoon, BART had resumed its regular schedule of operations. According to the San Jose Unified School District, none of its schools sustained any damage, and no students or staff members were hurt. Using our Earthquake Tracker, you are able to monitor earthquake activity in the Bay Area.
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