The San Francisco Bay Area widely felt a magnitude 4.5 earthquake.
The Los Angeles Times reports moderate shaking was felt at 10:33 p.m. on Oct. 14, with the epicenter the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek areas.
The U.S. Geological Survey says weak shaking was felt in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. Scientists say they don’t expect any major structural damage.
Keith Knudsen, USGS geologist and deputy director of the agency’s Earthquake Science Center, told the outlet that the earthquake had a preliminary depth of about 9 miles underneath the surface, fairly deep for this part of the world.
Assistant Chief Chris Bachman of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said that as of about 11 p.m. Monday, there were no reports of injuries or property damage related to the earthquake.
The quake was preceded by a 2.5 magnitude tremor about 10 minutes earlier in the same area.
The National Tsunami Warning Center confirmed minutes after the 4.5 magnitude quake that it would pose no tsunami danger.
Tsunami Info Stmt: M4.5 020mi NE San Francisco, California 2234PDT Oct 14: Tsunami NOT expected
— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) October 15, 2019
Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones wrote to Twitter after the quake, saying that the latest shock may serve as a precursor for another bigger earthquake near the Calaveras fault over the next few days.
The M4.5 quake at 10:33 pm was in the East Bay at 14 km depth. Because any quake can be a foreshock, there’s a slight increase in the chance of a bigger quake for the next few days, at the same location near the Calaveras fault
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) October 15, 2019
Epoch Times reporter Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
