August 25, 2014

Residents of northern California are bracing for aftershocks after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit near Napa Valley Sunday, injuring at least 172 people and causing extensive damage, including fires sparked by burst gas lines, in the largest tremor to rock the Bay Area since the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta quake in 1989. Aftershocks were expected to continue for several weeks, though State Geologist John Parrish told the Associated Press that they would decrease in magnitude and it was unlikely that there would be a large follow-up earthquake. Still, he warned people to be careful because buildings that were damaged by the quake were now more susceptible to collapse from aftershocks.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the tremor struck just before 3:30 a.m. Sunday local time about 10 miles northwest of American Canyon, which is about 6 miles southwest of Napa. Of the 172 patients admitted to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, 13 were admitted to the hospital with broken bones and respiratory or cardiac conditions, while the rest were treated and released for less severe injuries, hospital president Walt Mickens said at a news conference Sunday evening. Only one patient remains in the hospital in critical condition while another, a 13-year-old boy, was airlifted to another trauma center in critical condition after pieces of the fireplace at his home collapsed onto him, Mickens said. The boy is now listed in serious condition. The most common injuries were from household items falling off of walls or shelves onto people or from those who stepped on debris in their homes, he said. Mickens announced earlier Sunday that 120 people had been treated at the hospital, but that number rose as dozens of people got injured while cleaning up after the quake, he said.

Napa City Manager Mike Parness said the city declared a local emergency at 8:59 a.m. California time, which is the first step in getting more help from the state. Pacific Gas & Electric said that 2,200 customers were without power as of late Sunday evening and said the utility hoped to have power restored to all customers by Monday morning. A spokesman said that approximately 70,000 customers in Sonoma and Napa counties lost power during the earthquake. Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, said about 90 to 100 homes were deemed not habitable. He said the next step was to continue damage assessments and get a cost estimate for potential federal assistance.

Officials said they were still assessing buildings in the area. A Red Cross evacuation center was set up at a high school, and crews were assessing damage to homes and roadways. Authorities said Sunday evening that all bridges responded well to the earthquake. John Callahan of the Napa City Fire Department said at one point Sunday there were a half-dozen multiple structure fires. One was at a mobile home park where four mobile homes have been destroyed by fire, and two others suffered major damage.

Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle assured residents the water has not been contaminated.  “The water is safe to drink,” he said. LaRochelle said that more than 60 water mains have been damaged; 20 have been turned off. He said none of the larger transmission lines had been damaged.

Napa Fire Chief Mike Randolph said firefighters were continuing to assess the damage to buildings in the downtown area, and the department was busy answering more than 100 calls reporting the smell of natural gas. That's "our primary attention right now," he said. A number of buildings are damaged during the quake, but no number on how many was reported.

Sources: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/25/usgs-60-magnitude-earthquake-shakes-northern-california/;  http://lenta.ru/photo/2014/08/25/earthquake/#1