The strongest temblor to hit the Bay Area in nearly 20 years
prompted the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to issue an
earthquake advisory Wednesday morning in 10 counties, including
Santa Clara County.
The strongest temblor to hit the Bay Area in nearly 20 years prompted the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to issue an earthquake advisory Wednesday morning in 10 counties, including Santa Clara County.
The OES advisory stated Tuesday’s earthquake has “significantly increased the probability of a damaging earthquake along the Calaveras and/or Hayward faults over the next few days.”
Tuesday night’s magnitude-5.6 earthquake was centered near Alum Rock, north-northeast of San Jose, and occurred on the southern segment of the Calaveras Fault, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. There have been about a dozen smaller aftershocks, according to the USGS.
But what really concerns seismologists is that the epicenter was near the dangerous Hayward Fault, which hasn’t registered a strong earthquake since 1868.
Scientists have projected the Hayward Fault can produce a quake up to a magnitude-7.0. Immediately after Tuesday’s quake, the USGS reported there was a 30 percent chance of a larger temblor within seven days.
Residents should always be prepared for a temblor, said Cindy Stewart, emergency planning coordinator with the Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Services.
“I think they should always be looking at things like there is a possibility of an earthquake,” she said.
As she does regularly with her three children, residents should walk through the house and decide where they would go in the event of an emergency. The office discourages people from taking refuge in door frames as doors sometimes close on people’s hands, but rather to hide under tables to protect from falling objects. In addition, having a three-day supply of water could be useful if emergency services are slow to arrive, state officials said.
The advisory was also issued to Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San
Francisco, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma counties.
Michael Van Cassell contributed reporting to this article.
