Plan B Forum

Early Morning Quake Rocks San Francisco Area

A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay area at about 3:20 a.m. PT, the US Geological Survey reports, damaging buildings and causing thousands to lose electricity.

The San Jose Mercury News says the area affected stretches from Santa Cruz to Wine Country, including 2.3 million people.

There were no immediate reports of damage to Bay Area bridges, the Mercury News says. The Los Angeles Times , quoting an emergency dispatcher in the area as saying there have been "multiple medical calls."

The USGS says the epicenter was just north of the Bay area, near Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley and American Canyon. The quake struck at a depth of 6.7 miles, USGS says.

Electric and gas utility PG&E's website shows more than 40,000 customers without power

CBS San Francisco reports that the quake, the largest to hit the Bay Area since a magnitude-6.9 hit Loma Prieta in 1989, was felt across Northern California.

KCBS Radio says callers to the news station report "significant shaking motion in the city of Napa, lasting for an extended time."

The station quotes Jessica Turner, from the U.S. Geological Survey, as saying there have already been 25 aftershocks in the region.

The CHP may be closing a bridge on Highway 37 in Vallejo while they inspect it for possible damage, KCBS says.

Along, rolling temblor pegged at 6.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey shook a wide swath of the Bay Area awake early Sunday, causing damage to buildings and sending at least 87 people to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Centered about nine miles south of wine country's Napa at 3:20 a.m., the quake was felt as far south as Santa Cruz and into Sonoma County. It was the largest earthquake to strike the Bay Area since the 6.9 Loma Prieta temblor of 1989, the USGS said.

A little more than two hours after the quake, a shallow magnitude 3.6 tremor was reported by the USGS. The aftershock occurred at 5:47 a.m. at a depth of 5 miles. The National California Seismic System put the chance of a strong aftershock in the next week at 54%.

At least two people were seriously hurt. A spokeswoman at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa said most of its injured 70 patients had cuts, bumps and bruises. Many are being treated and released, but some have been admitted.

The quake caused about 50 gas main breaks and 30 water main leaks. The leaks prompted officials by 7 a.m. to open two evacuation centers at Napa High School and Grace Church. A number of historic buildings have been damaged included the Sam Kee Laundry, Goodman Library and the Napa County Courthouse, according to the city.

Residents reported power outages in Napa and beyond, and fire departments in several counties, along with the California Highway Patrol, were on the lookout for damage to bridges. Pictures flooding in from Twitter showed damage in homes and in the street.

According to a PG&E map, more than 42,000 customers are without power across the northern Bay Area, including American Canyon, Napa, St. Helena, Santa Rosa and Sonoma.

Gov. Jerry Brown said full emergency services have been activated: "These public safety officials are doing all they can to help residents and those living in affected areas should follow their guidance and instruction,” he said in a statement.

The CHP reported that California 121 at California 29 is damaged, with cracks that could cause flat tires. The CHP for the Solano district dispatched its graveyard shift immediately to search for damage and quickly found it: An overpass in Vallejo on California 37 headed toward American Canyon showed several areas where the roadway had separated and concrete crumbled.

kristina is in Santa Rosa iir so the degree of shaking will depend on exactly where she is.

TPFKA@W wrote:Glad you are ok. You were the first thing I thought of when I heard about it. I forget who else lives in that area. Kristina?

Lord Jim wrote:

kristina is in Santa Rosa iir so the degree of shaking will depend on exactly where she is.

She lives in Petaluma.

Napa, California: Prized collections and wooden casks crashed to cellar floors when a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Napa Valley, but damage to the famous wine region at the start of harvest time might be limited to a handful of wineries and warehouses.



Wineries closest to the city of Napa and the earthquake's epicentre reported the most serious losses after the pre-dawn jolt, but the extent of damage was still unclear.

At Saintsbury, around 1.6 km from the epicentre, co-founder Richard Ward said "we saw a lot of action."

The wine library with samples of Saintsbury vintages since 1981 was hit hard and about 400 bottles were destroyed, while empty barrels came crashing down, creating a big mess.

Mr Ward's wife, Linda Reiff, said "this whole thing was knee deep with solid broken glass."

Harvest at Saintsbury was due to start Monday and Mr Ward said "We'll probably put that off a couple of days."

The quake that struck at 3.20 am on Sunday, local time, was centred 10 km south of Napa and injured dozens of people, damaged historic buildings, set some homes on fire and caused extensive power outages around the picturesque town of Napa.

It was one of the biggest earthquakes to hit the wine region since it emerged as a formidable competitor to French wines in the 1970s, marked by two Napa Valley wines winning the historic 1976 Paris Tasting.

The valley is home today to more than 500 wineries, many of them famous producers of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

At Silver Oak Winery in Oakville, north of Napa, they lost several hundred bottles of wine, most of them used internally as control bottles for tastings and blends.

"Those bottles were not for sale publicly, but they held really important information to us," said Silver Oak spokesman Ian Leggat.

In downtown Napa, a historic city which had in recent years undergone a big urban renewal to cater to the wine industry and tourism, the quake hit tasting rooms and restaurants which would have been busy on Sunday.

Marguerite Capp, owner of the small winery Capp Heritage Vineyards, was cleaning up her downtown Napa tasting room and said the quake struck at a bad time.

"We are getting ready for the harvest in two weeks. This is going to hurt a tiny bit, and then we are going to get on with it. Mother Nature moves on whether or not we are ready for her," Ms Capp said.

These weeks are the busiest time for both the wine and tourism industries that sustain the bucolic valley located 70 km north of San Francisco.

Domaine Carneros, a maker of sparkling wine founded by the French group Taittinger, was open for business and dozens of visitors milled around the estate chateau even though the property is close to the epicentre.

"Our assistant winemaker says everything looks fine," in the cellar, said Jake Shebitz, assistant manager, who also didn't foresee any problems with the harvest.

Several in the industry said that strict building codes and earthquake recommendations, like never stacking more than six bottles, likely helped limit damage.

But there was concern about losses to warehouses and other wine-related businesses that had sprung up between Napa and American Canyon in recent years to take advantage of nearby highways.

Marsha Herbert, owner of Custom Wine Services in American Canyon, said she lost a couple hundred cases of wine, including some high-end bottles, out of thousands stored in the warehouse.

"To me, it looked awful, because there was wine everywhere," said Ms Herbert. "But when people stopped in to check on their inventory, they didn't think it was that bad."

Ms Herbert estimated it would take until Wednesday for clean-up to be completed and inventory totalled.

Reuters



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bottle-shoc ... z3BNyfGd7M

rubato wrote:

Lord Jim wrote:

kristina is in Santa Rosa iir so the degree of shaking will depend on exactly where she is.

She lives in Petaluma.

Just down the road from Santa Rosa. (And we have friends there).

As stated before, the degree of shaking will depend on local conditions.

Yrs,
Rubato

Lord Jim wrote:

Just out of curiosity rube...

Do you ever get tired of being a silly, sophomoric, supercilious little prick?

(You needn't answer that, it was a rhetorical question; of course you don't...)

Hatred makes you stupid.