A magnitude 4.2 earthquake centered near the Santa Cruz-Monterey county border woke residents across the Bay Area early Sunday morning.
The earthquake, at 2:47 a.m., struck along the San Andreas fault at a depth of 4.2 miles in a rural area along Highway 129 about six miles east of Watsonville and seven miles south of Gilroy.
It was the largest earthquake in the greater Bay Area region in nearly two years, since a 5.1 quake struck on October 25, 2022, with its epicenter at Joseph D. Grant County Park in the hills east of San Jose.
There were no reports of damage from the earthquake Sunday morning, authorities said. But the event was felt widely across the Bay Area, in San Jose, the East Bay, San Francisco and even Santa Rosa, according to the US Geological Survey’s website.
“It definitely woke me up,” said Ryan Stirm, owner of Stirm Winery, in Aromas, near the epicenter. “The first few seconds were the strongest, and then there were low-level tremors. We had no injuries. But it was loud. I don’t wake up easily. It was like a slow grind.”
Stirm said the quake made him think of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The earthquake, a magnitude 6.9 disaster that occurred on October 17, 1989, killed 63 people and caused $6 billion in damage. It destroyed the Marina District in San Francisco, collapsed the Cypress Freeway in Oakland, and devastated downtown Santa Cruz and Watsonville. It was the largest earthquake to hit the Bay Area since the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
Its upcoming 35th anniversary — and Sunday’s modest quake — should serve as a reminder that California is earthquake country, officials said Sunday.
“It’s always important to be prepared for earthquakes,” said Andy Rosas, spokesman for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department.
He advised residents to update their earthquake kits and make a communication plan for their families.
“During the Loma Prieta earthquake, no one was prepared,” Rosas said. “You just never know when they’re going to happen. The better prepared you are, the better it’s going to be.”
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