A magnitude 4.2 earthquake centered near the Santa Cruz-Monterey county line woke residents across the Bay Area early Sunday morning.
The quake struck at 2:47 a.m. in a rural area along Highway 129, about 6 miles east of Watsonville and 11 miles south of Gilroy, along the 6.2-mile-deep San Andreas Fault.
The quake was the largest earthquake in the Greater Bay Area in nearly two years, since the magnitude 5.1 quake that struck Joseph D. Grant County Park in the hills east of San Jose on Oct. 25, 2022. It became.
There were no reports of damage from Sunday morning’s earthquake, authorities said. But the event was widely felt throughout the Bay Area, in San Jose, the East Bay, San Francisco and even Santa Rosa, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s website.
“It was definitely a wake-up call,” said Ryan Sturm, owner of Stirm Winery in Aromas, near the epicenter. “The first few seconds were the strongest and then the low-level shaking happened. There was no damage, but it was loud. You won’t wake up that easily. It’s like a slow grind. Ta.”
Stirm said the earthquake reminded him of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The earthquake was a magnitude 6.9 disaster that occurred on October 17, 1989, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion in damage. San Francisco’s Marina District was severely damaged, Oakland’s Cypress Freeway was destroyed, and downtown Santa Cruz and Watsonville were devastated. It was the largest earthquake to hit the Bay Area since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The upcoming 35th anniversary and Sunday’s small earthquake should serve as a reminder that California is an earthquake-prone country, officials announced Sunday.
“It’s always important to be prepared for earthquakes,” said Monterey County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Andy Rosas.
He encouraged residents to update their earthquake kits and make plans to contact their families.
“No one was prepared for the Loma Prieta earthquake,” Rosas said. “You never know when they’re going to happen. The more prepared you are, the better things will go.”
Residents across the Bay Area reported feeling shaken by a magnitude 4.2 earthquake that occurred at 2:47 a.m. on Sunday, September 29, 2024. (Map: USGS)
First Published: September 29, 2024 at 4:10 p.m.
