A moderate earthquake rumbled through the city Tuesday night,
knocking a few books and candies from store shelves, but there were
no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
A moderate earthquake rumbled through the city Tuesday night, knocking a few books and candies from store shelves, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The quake struck just after 8 p.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6, originating about 9 miles northeast of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
While the quake was the strongest in almost two and half years and residents from Sacramento and Sonoma reported feeling the vibrations for up to a minute, the shaking was over in less than 15 seconds throughout Gilroy.
“It was just another notch in the belt,” said Rochelle Arellano, a manager at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy Crossing who described the quake as a big truck rolling outside the store. “We had signs that shook, and a couple of books fell from the lower display shelves, but everything was fine.”
Everything also turned out to be fine on the opposite side of town at the Safeway on First Street, but cashier Barbara Miranda was not expecting any vibrations as she scanned groceries for customers.
“I don’t know what we should do. Do we stay here?” she asked nervously as customers and employees shuffled about with blank stares. An economy-size plastic bag of Kit Kats smacked to the floor, but then the quake was over.
“How are you going to get used to that?” Miranda asked rhetorically as her colleagues teased her.
Outside of the store, 8-year-old Jarret Dexter said he was scared, but it had nothing to do with Halloween ghosts. He and his mom, Margie, were at home during the quake, about to leave for the store.
“I thought something was going to fall on me, and then my mom told me to go stand in the door,” Jarret said, recalling the third earthquake of his life.
The last five earthquakes to hit the Gilroy area this year have all been minor: a 4.3-magnitude earthquake was centered near Aromas in July; two earthquakes registering 3.2 magnitude occurred in January between Gilroy and Hollister; a 3.4 magnitude quake shook the Coyote Lake area in February and a similar quake occurred later that month near San Felipe Lake along Highway 152, according to USGS data.
The last earthquake stronger than Tuesday’s was a 6.4 in June 2005 centered in the Pacific Ocean about 100 miles west of Eureka, according to USGS data.
A police and fire dispatcher who declined to give her name said the quake “shook pretty good” on the second floor of the new Gilroy Police building. She said very few residents called.
“Normally, we get barraged, but not this time,” she said.
The USGS received 324 reports from 155 zip codes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as of 8:45 p.m Tuesday. The USGS reported at least seven aftershocks, all measuring less than magnitude 2.0, and the California Highway Patrol has received no reports of damage or injuries, spokesman Tom Marshall said.
One place where residents felt the tremor was Gilroy High School’s gymnasium.
The floor began to wobble with Salinas a point away from winning its match against Gilroy’s varsity girls volleyball team. While almost everyone in attendance remained calm and seated, one Salinas player was seen crawling under her chair as if it were a desk in a classroom.
Play was stopped for several minutes before resuming to finish off the match.
Tony Oliveri did not stop making pizzas, though.
The owner of Pinocchio’s Pizza near the corner of Tenth and Monterey streets reported a little rolling, but no spices or plates hit the floor.
Elsewhere in downtown Gilroy, other business owners also reported lots of shaking, but no damage.
Larry Mickartz, owner of the historic Fitzgerald House Bed & Breakfast on Rosanna Street near downtown Gilroy, said the 1885 house creaked and rolled, but did not sustain any damage.
“The house survived the ’06 quake and the ’89 quake,” he said. “This house is really noisy when there’s a quake. You not only feel it, but you hear it.”
Like most Gilroyans with a lifetime of earthquake experience, a group of diners at Happy Dog Pizza on Fifth Street regarded the quake with nonchalance.
“A party of 10 stayed in their seats. No one even went outside,” said Katherine Hayton, a server. “We felt kind of a rumble at first, it sounded like someone dropped something upstairs, and then it was kind of like a long roll or a drop.”
But at a restaurant farther north, John Nowaczyk, 37, could not help getting out of his seat.
The bike shop owner from Wausau, Wisc., was at El Toro Brewing Co. in Morgan Hill after training at Specialized Bicycles. He was trying to relax when he felt his first quake, and then co-owner Cindy Acevedo held a contest to see who could correctly predict the magnitude of the quake. The winner got a free pint of beer.
“The bar started moving and shaking, and I thought, ‘That’s really cool. Scary, but cool.’ ” said Nowaczyk. “It was interesting.”
What was more amazing, he said, was that all the locals went right back to drinking.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
