SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An earthquake jolted Central California on Thursday afternoon, shaking up residents of the Sierra Nevada foothills and the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys.
The shaking, registering magnitude 5.9, was centered in the Little Antelope Valley about four miles south of Coleville in Mono County, about 150 miles east of Sacramento.
Preliminary reports had indicated two earthquakes striking 25 seconds but 100 miles apart — but the U.S. Geological Survey revised the shaking and removed the report of a magnitude 4.8 quake in Farmington, about five miles southeast of Stockton.
A swarm of at least 10 quakes in the Sierra followed — most of the aftershocks were between 4.2 and 3.0, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“While there are no preliminary reports of damage or injuries, this is a rapidly evolving situation & more details will emerge in the coming hours.” the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services tweeted. “We are working closely with local officials to ensure they have the resources and support to rapidly respond to these earthquakes.”
Shaking was felt widely in Sacramento, Stockton and Nevada City, according to journalists from The Sacramento Bee. The shaking was also felt in the Bay Area, according to KRON-TV, which reported feeling “light shaking” in its San Francisco studio.
“It’s a pretty big aftershock series,” said Lind Gee, a geophysicist with the USGS. She said it’s typical for aftershocks to follow a quake of such magnitude.
She added that quakes are fairly common in the area near the California-Nevada border. “We have good-sized events in eastern California,” she said.
Twitter users throughout the Sacramento region reported feeling the shaking, with swimming pool water waving and one resident posting video of their ceiling lights still swaying.
Former Sheriff John McGinness was on the air for his KFBK radio show when he felt the shaking.
“Geez, I was on the air,” McGinness said. “I tried to be poised and say, ‘I’m feeling something here.’
“This one went on longer than others, so I’m actually taking calls on the recall election and I started taking them on the earthquake, asking, “Did you feel that?’ It’s probably the longest I’ve ever experienced. I’ve felt stronger, but not longer.”
Momna Shahbaz was in the middle of a video conference meeting when she and her co-workers first began to feel shaking. After pausing and confirming with each other that they were feeling an earthquake, they decided to immediately end the call.
Shahbaz, along with her parents and siblings, went out to the backyard of their Natomas home to ride out the quake.
“My sister had to leave her Zoom class, too,” she said.
Nicole Evans, a public relations executive in Fair Oaks, said she felt the shaking “big time. I have one of those ergonomic office chairs that has mesh, and my chair started bouncing.” She added that “it felt like it went on a good 60 seconds. But I didn’t know if it was my heart racing, to be honest.”
Nancy Vogel, deputy secretary for water at the California Natural Resources Agency on Ninth Street in downtown Sacramento, said she was on the 13th floor when the building began swaying.
“Our building emptied and people are milling around out front,.” she said. “I never felt a quake that strong in Sacramento.”
Mary Lee Knecht, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation official who lives in Land Park, said she was in her basement and “it felt like the ceiling was going to come down on me.”
Knecht said a friend in Curtis Park reported that “a table was shaking and things were falling off shelves.” Knecht said it was the first time she’s felt a quake in Sacramento in the 21 years she’s lived here.
Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale.
Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech.
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(Sacramento Bee and Modesto Bee staff writers contributed to this story.)
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