Moderate Earthquake Shakes Bay Area
By RON HARRIS – 9 hours ago
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A moderate earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday night, rattling homes and nerves, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and struck shortly after 8 p.m., about 9 miles northeast of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Residents reported feeling the quake, which lasted about a minute, as far east as Sacramento and as far north as Sonoma in California wine country.
The California Highway Patrol has received no reports of damage or injuries, spokesman Tom Marshall said.
The quake was centered in the Diablo Range foothills east of San Jose, not far from the home of the city's mayor, Chuck Reed.
Pictures fell off the walls of Reed's house, but the mayor said there was no major damage there.
"It was a pretty strong ride here, a lot of shaking but nothing broken," Reed told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "I've talked to a few people, and we have no reports of injuries or damage. There was a lot of shaking, but it wasn't the big one."
Rod Foo, who lives in southern San Jose about 10 miles from the epicenter, said that everything in his house shook for several seconds, but that the electricity never went out and his telephone was still working.
"I could hear it coming up the street before it hit the house," Foo said. "I thought it was the kids messing around at first; then I felt the house shaking and I knew it was an earthquake. ... It was rattling for a long time and really loud."
The USGS reported at least seven aftershocks, all measuring less than magnitude 2.0.
Allison Guimard, 25, a technology executive who lives in Mountain View, about 18 miles west of the epicenter, said that her china started shaking. It was the first significant earthquake for she and her husband, Pierre, who moved there from New York six months ago.
"It felt like the apartment was rolling; shaking and rolling," said Pierre Guimard, 25, a home entertainment installer. "Almost like a boat on the water."
