A 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook San Francisco Bay Area in California early morning on Sunday, causing minor injuries and damages to property.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck at around 3:20 a.m. local time Sunday in American Canyon, about six miles southwest of Napa County, The New York Times reported.
Agency spokesperson Leslie Gordon said it was the largest tremor to shake the Bay Area in 25 years, since the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta quake in 1989, which killed 62 people.
While the USGS said there was a“low likelihood for casualties,” it issued an “orange alert” for some damages it inflicted to the county.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– United States Geological Survey”]
Significant damage is likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.
[/quote]
The tremor’s depth was recorded at 6.7 miles, awakening a lot of sleeping Californians, The Independent reported.
There have been no immediate reports of major damages nor injuries, but power outage and fire at a mobile home park has been reported.
Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist, said the tremor was potentially damaging because it was close to populated areas. However, the agency pointed out that most structures in the area are resistant to quake of that magnitude.
“Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly resistant to earthquake shaking, though some vulnerable structures exist,” the agency said.
The effect of the quake to these vulnerable structures could be “heavy”, the agency added.
Twitter users, however, posted photos of the quake’s damages, including a car under the rubble (photo above), and the damage at Napa’s Hall of Justice.
“Damage from #NapaQuake car under rubble at Third and Brown streets,” Napa Register Photo (@NVR_Photo) tweeted.
There are “several” reports of injuries across the county but authorities have to consolidate the details yet.
