The residents of northern California are experiencing aftershocks after the 6.0 earthquake hit the area on Sunday, causing damage, fires due to burst gas lines and injuring around 170 people. This earthquake has been the largest earthquake to hit the Bay Area ever since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 which had the magnitude of 6.9.
According to experts, aftershocks are to be experienced and expected for a couple of weeks. John Parrish, State Geologist, told the Associated Press that the aftershocks will most likely decrease in magnitude and that it was highly unlikely that a larger scale earthquake would follow-up as an aftershock. Parrish warned people to take care around damaged buildings, as they are more likely to collapse.
The earthquake struck at around 3:30 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, 6 miles southwest of Napa Valley, California. There have been 172 people who have been admitted to Napa’s Queen of the Valley Medical Center and 13 of them had broken bones and cardiac or respiratory conditions. The rest were treated for injuries that were less severe, it was revealed by Walt Mickens, hospital president, at a news conference yesterday.
There is one patient, in particular, who has remained in the hospital in critical condition. Another one, a 13-year-old boy, was injured after pieces of the fireplace in his home collapsed on him. He was airlifted to another trauma center and is now listed in serious condition.
Jack LaRochelle, Public Works Director, assures the residents that the water in the area has not been contaminated.
The water is safe to drink. […] more than 60 water mains have been damaged; 20 have been turned off. […] none of the larger transmission lines had been damaged.
Jennifer Jones Lee, a woman who lives in the area where the earthquake hit, told Fox News about how it felt to experience the earthquake:
It felt like someone just picked up the house, shook it for a while, then dropped it. It was incredibly violent.
Between 1974 and 2003 there have been 4,895 earthquakes in California with a magnitude of 3.5 or greater.
Quite a lot of earthquakes, aren’t there? Do you live in the California area where the earthquake has hit? Would you like to share your thoughts on this matter with us and our readers? Drop us a line in the comment section below, we love hearing from our readers.
