A 5.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday, according to sources. U.S. Geological SurveyThere were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The quake struck at about 11:42 a.m. local time, about nine miles east of Seven Trees, a neighborhood in San Jose, California. A magnitude 3.1 aftershock followed about five minutes later. USGS data show.
USGS called it Although it is a “significant earthquake”, shaking strength from weak to moderate earthquakes. The agency reported that about 18,000 people in and around the Bay Area felt the quake.
According to seismologist Annemarie Baltay, people felt the quake from central northern California to Sacramento and Sonoma counties. in the video issued by USGS
“There is a 1 in 100 chance of an aftershock exceeding magnitude 5 the next day,” she said. “There could be 10 to 15 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or higher in the next week. Aftershocks of this magnitude and duration are completely normal for this type of event.”
The quake likely occurred along the Calaveras fault, a branch of the San Andreas fault system, said Dr Bartay.
It was the Bay Area’s largest earthquake since a magnitude-6 quake in 2014, according to Caltech geophysicist Lucy Jones.
“This is a once-in-a-decade event,” said Dr. Jones, founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society.
Earthquake warning systems, which send alerts to smartphones, gave people at least a few seconds of warning before an earthquake hit, she said, adding that the scariest part of an earthquake is usually its suddenness and unpredictability. rice field.
Two to three strong earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 or greater are recorded in California each year, causing moderate damage to buildings and other structures. State Department of Conservation.
Dr Jones said as of Tuesday afternoon, he had not heard of or anticipated any damage to buildings or structures.
“If a building in California is damaged by an earthquake of this level, it’s not following building codes,” she said.