Dozens hurt as earthquake rocks California

A large earthquake rolled through California’s northern Bay Area yesterday, damaging some buildings, knocking out power to thousands and sending residents running out of their homes in the darkness.

The extent of the damage wasn’t immediately clear. Two major injuries were reported, with hospitals very busy with moderate injuries, Napa Division Fire Chief John Callanan said.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck just before 3.30am in California wine country, Leslie Gordon of the US Geological Survey said. It’s the largest earthquake to shake the Bay Area since the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake in 1989.

“There’s collapses, fires,” said Napa Fire Captain Doug Bridewell, standing in front of large pieces of masonry that broke loose from a fire-damaged turn of the century office building. “That’s the worst shaking I’ve ever been in.”

Bridewell, who said he had to climb over fallen furniture in his own home to check on his family before reporting for duty, said he was starting to see more reports of injuries.

The shaking emptied cabinets in homes and store shelves, set off car alarms and had residents of neighbouring Sonoma County running out of their houses. Officials say widespread power outages have been reported in the area.

“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, with numerous small aftershocks.

“A quake of that size in a populated area is of course widely felt throughout that region,” said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the US 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.”

A member of Napa County dispatch tells the AP that there has been one report of structural damage, but additional details weren’t immediately available.

Numerous emergency vehicles were on the roads in Napa and Sonoma counties.

California Highway Patrol Officer Daniel Hill said road damage appears confined to the Napa and Sonoma areas. He said there appears to be no damage to major bridges in the Bay Area.

“They are in pretty good shape,” he said, noting that a couple of the roadways in the Napa-Sonoma area have some bumps and cracks.

In Napa, a water main break left at least one street flooded, and power outages left streetlights dark.