08-03-2006, 10:45 AM
Santa Rosa, Calif. (KCBS) -- A light earthquake rattled the Bay Area this evening with reports of a low rumble felt from Sonoma County clear to the steps of San Francisco City Hall.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the quake registered 4.4 on the Richter Scale with an epicenter of three miles west of Glen Ellen. It struck at 8:08 p.m.
Gordon in Glen Ellen said " I thought it was violent. I thought at first one of our big oak trees might have fallen over. It was obvious from the duration that it was an earthquake. We had a few coffee mugs jump off the counter and some pots and pans marched across the kitchen."
"It was very sharp and very nasty," said Bob, a resident of Sonoma which is also close to the epicenter.
"I felt an earthquake and probably the most violent I felt for quite a while," said another caller to KCBS.
Leslie Gordon of the USGS told KCBS that the temblor is considered "a light earthquake." Some items falling off shelves right near the epicenter would be expected. "Our response from the community, we've gotten more than 10,000 responses from people around the greater Bay Area that have felt it and that's the moderate shaking and very light damage is about the maximum that anyone has reported," she said. "People feel earthquakes, they log on to our website and they report from their zip code, what the shaking intensity was."
Scientists say the temblor was close to the Rodger's Creek Fault but they are still to determine the exact origin.
There were some minor aftershocks but they were too small to be noticed. They registered 1.2 at 8:33 p.m. , an 2.0 at 9:09 p.m. and a 1.5 at 9:25 p.m.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson said as a precaution the trains were stopped for a few minutes to make sure there would be no aftershocks. No problems were reported.
"Everything started shimmying back and forth. It was a little unnerving," said Kitty in Calistoga who said the shaking started her dog to barking.
Linda in Sebastopol said she "heard it before I felt it. I was standing in the kitchen and I heard a boom, boom, boom kind of coming and then I felt it roll through the house as the pictures on the walls were moving. You could feel it rolling through."
Susan in Kenwood, near the epicenter, said to her the earthquake felt like a jolt. "Then the shimmy. I was out by the pool and the pool was sloshing and the deck was shaking and then it was over."
There have been no reports of major damage.
(sam)
http://kcbs.com/pages/64119.php
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the quake registered 4.4 on the Richter Scale with an epicenter of three miles west of Glen Ellen. It struck at 8:08 p.m.
Gordon in Glen Ellen said " I thought it was violent. I thought at first one of our big oak trees might have fallen over. It was obvious from the duration that it was an earthquake. We had a few coffee mugs jump off the counter and some pots and pans marched across the kitchen."
"It was very sharp and very nasty," said Bob, a resident of Sonoma which is also close to the epicenter.
"I felt an earthquake and probably the most violent I felt for quite a while," said another caller to KCBS.
Leslie Gordon of the USGS told KCBS that the temblor is considered "a light earthquake." Some items falling off shelves right near the epicenter would be expected. "Our response from the community, we've gotten more than 10,000 responses from people around the greater Bay Area that have felt it and that's the moderate shaking and very light damage is about the maximum that anyone has reported," she said. "People feel earthquakes, they log on to our website and they report from their zip code, what the shaking intensity was."
Scientists say the temblor was close to the Rodger's Creek Fault but they are still to determine the exact origin.
There were some minor aftershocks but they were too small to be noticed. They registered 1.2 at 8:33 p.m. , an 2.0 at 9:09 p.m. and a 1.5 at 9:25 p.m.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson said as a precaution the trains were stopped for a few minutes to make sure there would be no aftershocks. No problems were reported.
"Everything started shimmying back and forth. It was a little unnerving," said Kitty in Calistoga who said the shaking started her dog to barking.
Linda in Sebastopol said she "heard it before I felt it. I was standing in the kitchen and I heard a boom, boom, boom kind of coming and then I felt it roll through the house as the pictures on the walls were moving. You could feel it rolling through."
Susan in Kenwood, near the epicenter, said to her the earthquake felt like a jolt. "Then the shimmy. I was out by the pool and the pool was sloshing and the deck was shaking and then it was over."
There have been no reports of major damage.
(sam)
http://kcbs.com/pages/64119.php
