Earthquake shakes East Bay, San Jose areas of California
Pastor Dale Morgan
Earthquake shakes East Bay, San Jose areas of California*
By Mark Gomez and Jeanine Benca
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 01/07/2010 10:19:24 AM PST
Updated: 01/07/2010 05:56:27 PM PST
An otherwise quiet weekday morning in the Bay Area was interrupted today
by an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.1.
The quake, which rumbled at 10:09 a.m., was centered six miles
east/northeast of Milpitas and 11 miles north/northeast of San Jose City
Hall, according to the USGS Web site. Early analysis by seismologists at
the USGS indicate the quake originated along the northern Calaveras
fault line. The quake was centered at a location where the northern and
southern Calaveras faults and Hayward fault intersect, according to USGS
seismologist David Oppenheimer.
That would place it in the area of the Sunol Regional Wilderness east of
Fremont.
"There are probably lots of small fractures, any number of which could
be the culprit," Oppenheimer said of the area where the fault lines
intersect. "But based on our analysis, it looks like it's on the
northern Calaveras fault."
The temblor was felt throughout the South Bay and in the East Bay from
Pleasanton to at least as far north as San Ramon. Of USGS Web site
visitors reporting that they felt the quake, most were from the
Milpitas, Fremont and Pleasanton and Livermore areas.
But shaking from the temblor was felt in Walnut Creek and as far away as
Richmond.
Marilyn Holliday was at home in the Mission Valley area of Fremont when
the quake hit.
"The mirror on my dresser was going back and forth and it rumbled. It
was kind of rolling and lasted probably five or
six seconds and then afterwards I could even feel the little
aftershock," she said. "It was gentle but things were definitely moving.
I knew it was stronger than the 3-point ones we've been having."
In Pleasanton, workers at the library felt the temblor.
"We all felt it. It was just kind of a roll," said Library Director
Julie Farnsworth. No books fell off the shelves, though, Farnsworth added.
It was also felt at the Valley Humane Society on Nevada Street in
Pleasanton. General manager Wendy McNelley said she was sitting in her
office at the time.
"I was sitting really still and it seemed to have two phases," said
McNelley, who at first thought the quake might just be a "big truck
going by."
"But then it did it again and I was like, 'Ooooooh, that's what that
was,' " McNelley said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages, according to a
San Jose Fire Department dispatcher.
A quake measuring 2.8 and centered in roughly the same area was recorded
Wednesday night at 11:09 p.m., according to the USGS. Oppenheimer said
the smaller jolt was probably a foreshock.
Willow Glen resident Donna Sanfilippo, 70, said she felt both jolts.
This morning, as a couple of Geek Squad employees set up a new computer
in her home, the ground started shaking.
"We all experience them when we live here our whole life," Sanfilippo
said. "We get those rolls and it stops." Since the '89 quake, "every
time there is one, you kind of automatically think 'is it going to
continue or is this it?"
Students at Donlon Elementary School in Pleasanton were evacuated for
about 10 minutes following the quake.
"It's a precaution, in case there is another one," said Jamie Tompkins,
health services coordinator for the 704-student school, "Besides, it's
good practice for the kids." Not everyone at the school felt the quake,
but Tompkins did.
"You definitely knew it was an earthquake," she said. "It was kind of fun."
No other Pleasanton school was evacuated, said district spokeswoman Myla
Grasso, adding that the quake evacuations are part of Donlon's safety plan.
The last magnitude 4 quake in the South Bay was March 30, 2009, when a
4.3 temblor struck just south of San Jose.
"It's just part of the natural background process of small earthquakes
in the Bay Area," Oppenheimer said. "We have magnitude 4 quakes several
times a year."
According to BART's Web site, the quake has caused a 5 to 10 minute
systemwide delay. The quake did not cause a disruption to Caltrain
service, according to spokeswoman Christine Dunn. Earthquakes must be
greater than 4.9 and within a 50-mile radius of the right of way before
it is necessary to stop
trains and inspect the tracks, according to Dunn.
The last major earthquake in the Bay Area was the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake � a magnitude 6.9 quake that struck on Oct. 17, 1989, in the
Santa Cruz Mountains. It killed 62 people and caused $6 billion in damage.