Earthquake Strikes San Francisco Bay Area

Residents of the San Francisco area woke up to an earthquake on Saturday morning when a 3.6 [...]

By Chris Mottram

Residents of the San Francisco area woke up to an earthquake on Saturday morning when a 3.6 magnitude quake jolted the Bay Area. It's center was in the San Mateo County coast near Colma. There are no reports of any damage or injuries at this point. Shortly after it happened, the San Francisco Fire Department tweeted that there we no calls to 911.

"We felt that 3.6 Earthquake centered in COLMA. All #SFFD stations are unaffected and in service. No reports or calls to the #SFFD have been received. We encourage you to review your preparedness," they wrote. The earthquake struck at 8:41 a.m. PT and was located about 4.5 miles off the San Mateo County coast.

Residents took to Twitter to report feeling the shaking from the quake.

"Nothing like waking up to a lil earthquake on a Saturday morning," one user wrote.

"My kid just said 'it's so bumpy' then we carried on making coffee and listening to Hamilton," added another.

"I've lived in the Bay Area just about my entire life and I'm still not used to the earthquakes," another user commented.

"Our house shook, dog freaked out, cat even ran inside and stuff fell off the shelves in our garage!," wrote another.

Others used memes to express their reactions to the quake.


There has not been a major earthquake hit the Bay Area since 1989 when a devastating 6.9 magnitude quake hit on October 17. It caused 63 deaths, nearly 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage. A plate slip along the San Andreas Fault caused the earthquake, which lasted for about 15 seconds.

That quake famously struck while an Oakland A's vs. San Francisco Giants playoff baseball game was being nationally televised. It gave many Americans a first-hand look at the terror of such a powerful natural disaster, and the Goodyear blimp that was circling Candlestick Park showed some of the early images of the destruction.

Hopefully, another quake of that size never hits the Bay Area again, and that Saturday morning's event doesn't spawn any aftershocks.

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