A 6.0 magnitude earthquake centered seven miles southeast of
Parkfield rocked and rolled through Hollister Tuesday morning, but
besides leaving some residents feeling a little dizzy and
apprehensive atop the shaky ground, no structural damage was
reported.
Hollister – A 6.0 magnitude earthquake centered seven miles southeast of Parkfield rocked and rolled through Hollister Tuesday morning, but besides leaving some residents feeling a little dizzy and apprehensive atop the shaky ground, no structural damage was reported.
“One picture fell off the wall, and that was it,” said Dorothy McNett, owner of Dorothy McNett’s Place downtown. “We all kind of looked around and the pots and pans swayed and made a musical sound – we were just a little rattled up.”
The earthquake struck at 10:15am, and more than 160 aftershocks followed in quick succession – one with a preliminary 5.0 magnitude and four others at 4.1 or above. The initial 10-second quake was felt along a 350-mile stretch, as far north as Sacramento and as far south as Santa Ana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Special education teacher Nancie Ross, who was teaching at Gabilan Hills Elementary School, was surprised how long the quake lasted and the little effect it had on her students, she said.
“We were more scared than the kids,” she said. “We tried to get them to get under the table, but nobody wanted to.”
Kelly Owczarzak, owner of Kelly’s Gift Place on San Benito Street, felt secure in her store when the temblor hit, but was immediately reminiscent of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that caused so much death and destruction, she said.
“Now that one was pretty scary,” she said. “But I’d much rather take this and chance an earthquake than be in what Florida is going through.”
If a big quake were to hit Hollister, associate civil engineer David Rubcic said the city is prepared to handle the ramifications.
“I think we’ve learned a lot over the past, and I believe we’re very well prepared for a major earthquake here,” he said.
Government codes require that many buildings, such as the Veteran’s Memorial Building, City Hall and any emergency services building such as fire stations or hospitals, be retrofitted to be earthquake resistant, Rubcic said.
“In case a real big one hit, a lot of buildings would be destroyed but won’t collapse,” he said. “They’re built so the occupants have the ability to escape.”
The quake, which struck along the San Andreas fault, damaged some structures in the Parkfield area but no injuries were immediately reported. A major quake in Paso Robles killed two people last year.
“Things were shaking so bad you couldn’t tell where to go next,” said Parkfield Vineyard owner Harry Miller, who grows 170 acres of wine grapes in Parkfield. “Trees shaking like brooms, and dust coming from everywhere.”
Five or six of Miller’s buildings – including his home – were damaged by the quake, which also tipped over about 300 cases of wine. Most of his water pipes burst, and so much was thrown out of place in the ranch’s mechanic shop that he couldn’t even walk in to assess the damage, he said.
“I looked at the 10,000-gallon water tank, and there was water shooting 30 feet away,” said Miller, who ran to lawn with his wife when the first wave hit.
A little more than an hour after the main earthquake, the state Office of Emergency Services hadn’t received any reports of injury or major damage. “The aftershocks are tracking toward the northwest, which is good, according to the scientists, because it appears it is not a precursor to something larger,” said Eric Lamoureaux, an OES spokesman.
Scientists put the chance of another similar or larger quake striking in the same area this week at 5-10 percent, said USGS geophysicist Andrew Michael.
Tuesday’s quake, which occurred at a depth of 4.9 miles, was what is known as a “strike-slip quake,” which means it caused the ground to move horizontally, said Kate Hutton, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Parkfield, population 37, is one of the world’s most seismically active areas, sitting at the boundary of a creeping section and locked section of the San Andreas fault – the meeting of the Pacific and North American plates as they grind along 800 miles through California.
The town was shaken by six 6.0 earthquakes between 1857 and 1966 – one approximately every 22 years. Because of the regularity with which countless smaller tremors constantly rattle the area, the USGS about two decades ago installed seismometers, strainmeters, creepmeters and just about every other tool used to study temblors there. The equipment is monitored remotely as part of a long-term quake research project named the Parkfield Experiment.
Based on the spacing of the previous Parkfield earthquakes, geophysicists had expected another earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or greater to hit Parkfield 15 years ago. But it didn’t happen, until Tuesday.
“It was very much the anticipated earthquake – the anticipated magnitude and the anticipated section of the San Andreas fault,” said Michael Blanpied, associate coordinator with USGS’s earthquake hazards program in Reston, Va. “This will probably be the most well-recorded earthquake in history.”
The USGS estimate was strengthened several times Tuesday, from 5.8, or “moderate,” to 6.0, the threshold for a “strong” earthquake. Preliminary magnitudes are determined by seismographs across the planet, and often change as scientists pinpoint where the epicenter is and interpret the data.
A magnitude 5 quake can cause considerable damage and a magnitude 6 quake severe damage, though problems are generally far less severe in remote areas and areas with strong building codes.
“This is earthquake country. It’s a larger earthquake than what usually occurs, but it’s not unprecedented,” said USGS spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna. “We expect big earthquakes in this area, but don’t know when they’ll occur.”
Last December, a magnitude-6.5 earthquake jolted the central California coast, pitching an 1892 clock tower building onto the street and crushing a row of parked cars. Two people were killed in the state’s first fatal quake since the 6.7-magnitude temblor that hit the Northridge area of Los Angeles in 1994.
Since then, many residents of the area have taken precautions to protect their property and valuables from the next inevitable quake.
“I respect them, let’s put it that way,” Mary Vanderwert, 57, said by telephone from her Paso Robles home, where she experienced Tuesday’s earthquake as a series of ripples and vibrations. “It just tickled your feet and then all of a sudden it’s jerking and then the whips started… Here comes another one, hang on.”
Christy Gieseke, 49, a rancher in nearby San Miguel, said the earthquake spooked her horses – and her as well.
“I had just got out of the shower and ran outside in my dishtowel. My chandelier was shaking. You could hear the ground,” Gieseke said. “It was totally scary. I came in and I decided I better get my clothes on real quick.”
The very few residents of Parkfield – a half-dozen buildings on either side of a street in a valley surrounded by oak-studded hills – pride themselves on the area’s seismic activity. Drivers into town pass a sign reading “Now entering the North American plate.”
“The thing about the San Andreas fault is, you have to appreciate it because it’s what made California the most spectacular state there is,” said John Varian, a lifelong resident and owner of the Parkfield Cafe, where food spilled out of the cupboards Tuesday. “I’ll take my earthquakes over those hurricanes any day.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
