5.1-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes San Jose, With up to 15 Possible Aftershocks
Oct. 26 2022, Updated 11:02 a.m. ET
While certain parts of California are running out of water, others are being shaken into oblivion.
A 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck San Jose on Tuesday, Oct. 25, about 9 miles from a neighborhood called Seven Trees. And although no significant injuries or damage has been reported as of publication, seismologists are predicting upwards of 15 aftershocks in the area, over the next week or so.
Prior to the start of the quake, the Earthquake Warning California app alerted upwards of 100,000 locals ahead of time, warning them to take cover prepare to possibly evacuate.
“Advance notice varied from two seconds for those very near the epicenter to 18 seconds for those in the San Francisco,” Brian Ferguson, deputy director for crisis communication and public affairs for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, told CNN.
Dr. Annemarie Baltay, who is a USGS seismologist, also told CNN on Tuesday “there could be 10-15 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater in the next week.”
“Aftershocks of this magnitude and duration are totally normal for an event of this type,” she stated. “If you do feel shaking don’t forget to drop, cover and hold on.”
The Bay Area has been shaken by what's been labeled a "notable quake."
Around 11:42 a.m. local time, approximately 9 miles from San Jose's Seven Trees neighborhood, an earthquake took place along the Calaveras Fault. According to The New York Times, five minutes after it ended, a 3.1-magnitude aftershock followed.
The shaking has been labeled as weak to moderate, but the USGS has called it a "notable quake." About 18,000 people in the Bay Area, from Central California north to Sacramento, reported feeling it.
“There is a one-in-100 chance of an aftershock greater than a magnitude 5 in the next day,” seismologist Annemarie Baltay stated via The New York Times. “There could be 10 to 15 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater in the next week. Aftershocks of this magnitude and duration are totally normal for an event of this type.”
This was the strongest quake reported in the area since a 6.0-magnitude quake shook Napa Valley in 2014. But earthquakes have been taking place in the area every week or so.
Because school buildings weren't affected, classes resumed shortly after the shaking ended. But no damage was really expected, anyway, as infrastructure should be prepared for these types of events.
“If a California building is damaged at this level of earthquake, it’s not following the building code,” Lucy Jones, a geophysics researcher at the California Institute of Technology.
This comes only a week after the anniversary of the infamous Loma Prieta earthquake.
Fortunately, the San Jose quake resulted in minor damage, but according to USA Today, it took place just after the 33rd anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The quake, which took place in 1989, was 6.9-magnitude. It struck somewhere within the Santa Cruz Mountains on Oct. 17, prior to the World Series in San Francisco.
As a result of the 1989 earthquake, 62 people died. It also resulted in billions of dollars of damage — needless to say, locals were relieved this quake wasn't quite as tumultuous.
