"It just felt like my office was shaking quite a bit. It was about the longest earthquake I've felt since living here for 20 years so I thought it was pretty significant," resident of Pleasanton, California Dave McMorrow said when asked about his experience with the recent shaking in Bay Area from the Eastern Sierra earthquake.
A magnitude of 6.0 earthquake centered in between Lake Tahoe and Mono Lake, eastern Sierra Nevada was recorded on Thursday afternoon. The residents in Bay Area were rattled by the feeling of rumble or a wave, as described by them, that felt 'a little different'.
People from across the Bay Area, Concord, Hayward, and Daly City shared videos on the internet of the swinging or swaying of light fixtures and chandeliers.
MAMMOTH LAKES, CA - APRIL 18: Snow along Hot Creek has melted, partly due to the active geothermal field found underneath this unusual geological site as viewed on April 18, 2021, near Mammoth Lakes, California. With the annual Sierra snowpack at less than 60% of normal, much of California and Nevada is now back in a "severe" or "extreme" drought situation, leading to water restrictions in many parts of California.
"I was in my room and all of a sudden everything was shaking and I have these little clouds on my ceiling and they were moving back and forth. My brother and sister came running out of their rooms. They're like, 'did you feel it, did you feel it, did you feel it?'" said Emma Nelson, a resident of Dublin.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the shaking could be felt hundreds of miles from the epicenter, including Redding to Sacramento, Sacramento to Fresno, and out to San Jose and San Francisco.
Shaking in Bay Area
The USGS initially reported the magnitude of the quake as 5.9. but upgraded it to a 6.0 later. The earthquake struck in the Antelope Valley fault zone where several faults can be found, with an epicenter 4 miles away from west-southwest of Walker, a California town, where around 900 residents felt the shaking that lasted about 30 seconds.
Carolina Estrada, a manager at the Walker Coffee Company said that boulders 'the size of cars' fell nearby Highway 395. A temporary closure of the road was made, including north of Highway 182 in Bridgeport to the Nevada state line.
Fortunately, no major damages or injuries were reported during the rockslide according to the California Highway Patrol reported. The roadway was reopened around 5:20 P.M.
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Aftershocks May Come in the Following Days
"People in the area should expect aftershocks for days following an earthquake of this size," said Jason Ballman with the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California. "We've already seen a pretty vigorous aftershock sequence."
In fact, on Thursday afternoon, a dozen of aftershocks was already recorded that persisted until the evening. USGS aftershock forecast suggests 6% chance of a larger aftershock, larger than the initial quake, might occur.
Ballman added that updated reports for damages or injuries might not be available in the next few days as a lot of the shaking could still be felt in remote areas.
Officials say that the Thursday's event was the largest recorded earthquake since 1994 when a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook Bay Area.
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