A 4.2 magnitude earthquake hit near the small community of Isleton in Sacramento County around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning triggered a shake alert in Northern California.
Isleton city manager Chuck Bergson told KCRA-TV that he heard a noise during the quake.
“There was nothing major with this one,” Bergson said.
The quake also occurred one day after the 34th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake that rocked the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989, killing 63 people and injuring nearly 3,800 others.
The devastation caused up to $10 billion in damage.
The quake was felt in the San Francisco Bay Area suburbs including Antioch, Concord, Fairfield, Martinez, Orinda, Danville, and even Berkeley.
As a result, a “USGS ShakeAlert” was sent to millions of residents in Northern California, stretching from as far north as Sacramento to San Francisco and further down south to San Jose and Silicon Valley.
“Earthquake Detected! Drop, Cover, Hold on. Protect Yourself!” the alert said. Any earthquakes above 4.0 will trigger an alert, the USGS said.
The earthquake did not cause any damage or destruction but the alert may have made it seem like it did.
“There was a seismic shake, and in this case, one extremely close to the quake itself. A longer part of the shake was initially detected, and that triggered a wider area that was alerted,” Goulet said. “It made the event appear bigger than it was.”
“But it’s way better to be safe than sorry,” Goulet said. “We know it might be stressful for some, but the alert is meant to save lives, to drop, cover, hold on, and please get in a secure space.”
