BY MICHAEL MOORE AND CHRIS BONE
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake centered north of Morgan Hill shook the South Santa Clara Valley Monday morning.
No damages or injuries were reported by area law enforcement agencies. A dispatch employee at the Morgan Hill Police Department said the quake felt like “a sudden jolt.”
The 10:40 a.m. temblor was centered about four miles underground and 11 miles north of Morgan Hill, according to information on the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.
Carrie Reinsimar of the California Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered east of the Calaveras fault, which runs northwest to southeast, on the eastern side of Morgan Hill, but it was not directly on the fault.
She added that typically, earthquakes similar in magnitude to Monday’s do not result in surface ruptures or other serious after-effects.
“Usually everybody feels it, but it’s not one that causes damage,” Reinsimar said.
At Gilroy’s City Hall, Engineering Department Financial Analyst Pat Bentson – who said she had not heard of any infrastructure damages – knew she wasn’t imagining things when she saw the water in her glass rippling.
“I looked at my water and knew it wasn’t me,” Bentson said. “It was actually a roll that lasted a couple of seconds,” Pat Bentson said.
Thousands of residents throughout the Bay Area also reported feeling the quake on the USGS Web site Monday, including hundreds from Santa Cruz, Morgan Hill and San Martin. At least 100 Gilroyans relayed their feelings online, but they were hard to find in person Monday afternoon.
“Was that an earthquake?” asked Ann Warren, an employee at Collective Past, a downtown antiques store at 7495 Monterey St. “I just thought it was a big truck rolling by.”
Down the block at Sue’s Coffee, nobody felt anything either. Nor over at Nob Hill Food on First Street near Wren Avenue.
“Nothing shook here. I didn’t even know it happened,” said George Hunt, the grocery store’s assistant store director.
Across the street at J-V Liquors – where glass bottles crowd the shelves – Owner Allan Sulaiman also said he did not hear anything except a few remarks from customers.
In Morgan Hill, employees at local retail stores felt the ground shake, but did not report any damages.
At press time, City of Morgan Hill Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft said his office didn’t hear of any infrastructure damages and Santa Clara Valley Water District Spokeswoman Susan Siravo said there were no reported damages to any district facilities resulting from the earthquake.
Siravo added that staff will likely check the district’s 10 reservoirs and dams to confirm whether or not damages occurred.
The last noticable earthquake in Gilroy occurred in July 2007, when a 4.3-magnitude earthquake centered near Aromas in Monterey County rippled gently through Gilroy early in the afternoon. There were no reports of damage, downed power lines or fires from that temblor.
Since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, city officials have pressed owners of so-called “unreinforced masonry buildings,” which are not structurally strong enough according to modern building standards, to demolish or restore their earthquake-unsafe buildings. At least 13 of the city’s known 47 trouble spots have been repaired – either by restoration or demolition and reconstruction – and at least 19 of the remaining 34 sites are in the city’s queue with their owners securing necessary permits, according to city figures from earlier this year.
The last major earthquake in Morgan Hill was a 6.2 temblor April 24, 1984. That quake caused minor structural damage to homes and businesses throughout town, and knocked several houses off their foundations. No deaths or serious injuries were reported.
