Residents of Northern California felt a 4.7-magnitude earthquake Wednesday evening as tremors were felt across the Sacramento Valley and as far as the San Francisco Bay Area. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake was reported at 6:34 p.m. Pacific Time and had its epicenter two miles northwest of Cobb in Lake County at a depth of about 0.68 miles.
State Senator Mike McGuire said on social media that the quake was a “pretty good shaker,” while the Santa Rosa Fire Department confirmed the tremor in their area. This only caused minor damage and no major injuries because the area is designed to bear conventional moderate seismic activity.
While on social media, locals gave their firsthand experience. This quake rolled, according to them. “It was a rolling earthquake, lasted a few seconds,” one of them wrote. Another commented that the shallow depth made the tremor feel more intense locally.
This quake occurred just days after other seismic activity in the region. Less than a month ago, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake off the Mendocino County coast triggered a tsunami alert, followed days later by a 5.5-magnitude quake in Nevada.
The USGS considers earthquakes in the 4.0 to 4.9 magnitude range light to moderate. While relatively small compared with what happened at sea, such quakes can still be impactful, depending upon depth and proximity to population centers.
The #ShakeAlert early warning system has now detected this earthquake, which sent alerts through the MyShakeApp and Android systems. Public preparedness in California for seismic events continues to improve.
While Northern Californians are now healing from this experience, earthquake preparedness has always been and still is one of the biggest reminders given by experts about this geologically active region.
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