Hollister
A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and centered north of San Jose rattled San Benito County on Tuesday, but only minor damage and no injuries were reported here as of press time.
It was the largest quake to hit the Bay Area since the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake and its aftershock in 1989, said Tom Brocher, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Tuesday night’s quake was the largest on the Calaveras Fault since the magnitude-6.2 Morgan Hill earthquake of 1984, Brocher said.
The earthquake hit shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday. It had an epicenter five miles north-northeast of Alum Rock on the Calaveras Fault, which runs through Hollister, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Residents reported feeling the temblor, which lasted about a minute and resembled a gradually dissipating roll here in Hollister, as far east as Sacramento and as far north as San Rafael.
Local authorities and emergency responders had reported no injuries caused by the earthquake, while the most serious call the Hollister Fire Department received Tuesday night was to report two telephone wires touching at the intersection of Hawkins Street and Washington Avenue, said firefighter John Parrinello.
Marybelle Ventura of Hollister was at home drying her daughter’s hair when Tuesday night’s quake hit Hollister.
“I thought I was going to fall down,” said Ventura, who said her legs didn’t stop shaking for about 10 minutes after the earth itself had stopped moving.
Shortly after, she drove to Save Mart to stock up on some water because, as she put it, “You never know.”
Yvette Cordova of Hollister was shopping at Save Mart when the ground shook. Grocery items fell off the shelves. She described seeing glass breaking all over the floor, but then was told by Save Mart employees to leave, she said, because the store was closing for 30 minutes to clean.
Save Mart employees reported broken liquor bottles, spilled soda and cleaning products, and damaged canned tomatoes from the earthquake.
Safeway reported no damage from the earthquake. A scattering of boxes and other lighter items had been resting on the floor about 30 minutes after the earthquake.
At Target, Manager Thomas Sayers said nothing fell from the shelves, but that store personnel were inspecting the building to assess any potential structural damage.
At Nob Hill, damage “wasn’t that bad,” said Joe Lopez, head clerk, who continued checking out customers as business seemingly went on as usual, aside from a couple of store employees who got stuck wiping spaghetti sauce left splattered on the floor from broken jars that fell off the shelves.
“A couple bottles here and there, but nobody got hurt,” Lopez said.
Despite the minor damage, Fire Department engines were ready to roll after the earthquake in case of an emergency.
“As a precaution, we always move our rigs outside of the base,” Parrinello said.
Hollister Fire Departments station No. 2 on Union Road and Airline Highway did not receive any calls because of the earthquake.
Neither the Hollister Police Department nor the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office received calls about the quake, officials at each agency said.
“We didn’t have a single inquiry into our county dispatch center,” sheriff’s deputy Bryan Penney said.
The most recent earthquake of noticeable size felt in San Benito County was a magnitude-4.3, considered a light quake, which struck west of San Juan Bautista on July 2, according to the USGS.
This year, there have been 38 earthquakes of a 5.0 magnitude or larger throughout the country, according to the USGS.
At least 11 aftershocks were reported Tuesday night as of press time, according to the USGS.
Editor Kollin Kosmicki and the Associate Press contributed to this story.
