An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck California’s northern San Francisco Bay area early Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The earthquake struck just before 3:30 a.m. about 10 miles northwest of American Canyon, which is about 6 miles southwest of Napa, in California wine country, Leslie Gordon of the U.S. Geological Survey said.
It’s the largest earthquake to shake the Bay Area since the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake in 1989, the USGS said.
The shaking set off car alarms and had residents of neighboring Sonoma County running out of their houses in the middle of night. Officials say widespread power outages have been report in Sonoma County.
A member of Napa County dispatch tells The Associated Press that there has been one report of structural damage, but additional details weren’t immediately available.
“It was a rolling quake, said Oakland resident Rich Lieberman. “It started very much like a rolling sensation and just got progressively worse in terms of length. Not so much in terms of shaking, but it did shake. It felt like a side-to-side kind of rolling sensation. Nothing violent but extremely lengthy and extremely active.”
The USGS says the depth of the earthquake was just less than seven miles, and numerous small aftershocks have occurred in the Napa wine country.
“A quake of that size in a populated area is of course widely felt throughout that region,” said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado, “The 6.0 is a sizeable quake for this area. It’s a shallow quake. It’s about 6 miles deep. We received hundreds of reports on our website from people that felt it in the surrounding area.”
There was no immediate report of injuries.
Woman who watched her home burn to the ground said she was “lucky to get out” after the quake. Lost a kitten, CoCo. pic.twitter.com/Uab6AvNE1U
— Will Kane (@WillKane) August 24, 2014
#usgs reports 3.7 aftershock in American Canyon. Residents tells us it feels bigger than Loma Prieta
— KTVU (@KTVU) August 24, 2014
Earthquake at @SilverOak pic.twitter.com/uSfHX2WzBk
— David Duncan (@DavidSilverOak) August 24, 2014
4 homes total loss, 6-8 damaged. Worst hit accd to Napa fire cpt. #napa #quake pic.twitter.com/cBycmL1xbr
— Derek Moore (@deadlinederek) August 24, 2014
Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa getting calls of injuries, mostly cuts from glass, staff tell me #earthquake
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) August 24, 2014
Here’s the 7-11 in American Canyon, which is now so busy ppl buying batteries, water that the clerk can’t clean up. pic.twitter.com/IGUd0G0kmo
— Will Kane (@WillKane) August 24, 2014
#Napa Congress Valley Rd and Buhman Ave closed for significant roadway damage.
— CHP Golden Gate (@CHP_GoldenGate) August 24, 2014
Here is one of the roads buckled pretty bad in North Napa #earthquake pic.twitter.com/koqdhKFI67
— Adam Housley (@adamhousley) August 24, 2014
.@PGE4Me: More than 30K w/o power now in Napa. 15K in Sonoma, 10K in Santa Rosa, about 10K more spread through several cities
— Daniel M. Jimenez (@DMJreports) August 24, 2014
Damage from #NapaQuake in downtown #Napa Vintners Collective pic.twitter.com/4e2P3QBb8l
— Napa Register Photo (@NVR_Photo) August 24, 2014
Napa hall of justice damage #earthquake pic.twitter.com/giwx7Cr3qA
— Jessette Porter (@racrmom) August 24, 2014
Building destroyed in napa #earthquake pic.twitter.com/GjOsBEmZA8
— Lyall Davenport (@Lyalldavenport) August 24, 2014