Yahoo – AFP,
Glenn Chapman, 24 Aug 2014
 |
Bricks from
a damaged building sit on a car following a reported 6.0 earthquake
on August
24, 2014 in Napa, California (AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan)
|
San
Francisco (AFP) - California's governor declared a state of emergency Sunday
following a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake that seriously injured three people
including a child and ignited fires in the scenic Napa valley wine region.
The US
Geological Service said that the quake was the most powerful to hit the San
Francisco Bay area since the 1989 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake.
The quake
sent at least a top corner of a brick building tumbling into the street in
Napa. Elsewhere it ignited fires, burst water mains and cracked roads in the
area.
 |
A building
is destroyed following a
reported 6.0 earthquake on August 24,
2014 in Napa,
California (AFP Photo/
Justin Sullivan)
|
Among them
was a child who was critically injured by a fallen fireplace and had been flown
to a hospital for neurological care.
Queen of
the Valley Medical Center in Napa told AFP it had treated 89 patients for minor
injuries such as cuts and bruises and that all were
"non-life-threatening."
Meanwhile
fire destroyed four mobile homes and damaged two others at a trailer park in
the area, and officials said a fire broke out at another mobile home park as
well.
The city of
Napa told AFP that a family home had also caught fire.
Issuing a
state of emergency, Governor Edmund Brown said that "the circumstances of
the earthquake, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond
the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single
local government."
Damage
reports
Napa city
officials said they had had more than 100 phone calls from people reporting gas
leaks.
However,
city public works director Jack LaRochelle said "the big thing we're
looking at from a public works infrastructure standpoint is the water main
system."
The Napa
city official said there had been around 30 reports of water main leaks or
breaks following the quake, which struck near American Canyon some 40 miles (64
kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, according to USGS.
It roused
people from sleep as far away as San Francisco, and was felt as far east as
Sacramento and as far south as Santa Cruz.
Dorothy
Roberts, Napa city clerk, told AFP multiple reports of structural damage had
come in and that brick buildings in particular had been hard-hit.
USGS issued
an "orange alert" for possible damage, a rating which means
"significant damage is likely and the disaster is potentially
widespread."
The
California Highway Patrol closed several off-ramps to highways and at least two
roads in Napa Valley because of "significant roadway damage."
Drivers
were cautioned to be careful at an intersection of two state roads in Napa
Valley.
"Cracks
in road may cause flat tires," it said on its Twitter account.
Meanwhile
sections of streets were closed in Napa due to glass on the road.
And power
was still knocked out to around 20,000 customers in the area, home to
California's most celebrated wine producing regions, according to the Pacific
Gas and Electric Company. Brown said 69,000 people lost power in all.
The power
company said it had sent crews out to assess the damage and restore power, and
estimated electricity would be back up within several hours.
'Earthquake country'
USGS expert
Jessica Turner told KCBS radio that aftershocks of up to 5.0 are likely in the
next week.
A handful
of small aftershocks had already been recorded by USGS.
 |
A victorian
home stands next to the San
Francisco skyline on February 18, 2014
in San
Francisco, California (AFP Photo/
Justin Sullivan)
|
Ceebee
Thompson and Jack Fairchild were shaken from slumber to see chandeliers
swinging and cabinets flung open in their house in the Wine County town of
Calistoga about 30 miles from the quake's epicenter.
"That
was pretty scary," Thompson said. "I've been in an earthquake in
Oakland and a nasty one on Guam, and this was right up there with the one in
Guam."
She
described the quake as a long rolling shudder of the earth's crust, marked by
jolts.
Napa's
historic downtown featuring vintage brick buildings was hard-hit, with facades
breaking and windows shattering.
Residents
in the quake zone, including as far away as San Francisco and Davis, just more
than 40 miles northeast, quickly took to Twitter.
One user
Tyson Winter wrote: "Shook violently here in Napa. Power's out."
And in San
Francisco, Om Malik posted "Damn, woke me up. Was super long."
Further
north, Tim Kerbavaz tweeted: "Felt it in Davis too. Quite
long."
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