Earthquakes strike California for THIRD DAY sparking ‘Big One’ fears,
An earthquake swarm as rocked Central California for the third straight day, adding to the fears that the fabled ‘Big One’ could be edging closer to ravaging the state.
Three minor earthquakes were detected less than 30 miles south of San Jose Friday morning, striking within three minutes of each other between 10.40 and 10.43am ET.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the first tremor registered as a magnitude 3.4 earthquake, and was then followed moments later by magnitude 2.6 and 2.5 quakes.
No injuries or damage to local property has been reported at this time.
Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 in magnitude are often felt for several miles in all directions but typically cause only minor damage, such as knocking objects off shelves.
However, Friday’s swarm struck just a day after at least 13 tremors, ranging from magnitude 1.0 to 3.7, were reported near The Geysers geothermal field in Northern California.
Moreover, another swarm of three more powerful earthquakes struck in nearly the exact same location south of San Jose on Wednesday.
This fresh outbreak of seismic activity has been taking place along a network of fault lines in California which all connect to the infamous San Andreas Fault, the source of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake that’s feared to erupt again soon.
Friday’s 3.4 magnitude quake was largely felt by residents around the epicenter, in Salinas, Monterey, Hollister, and San Juan Bautista. However, USGS did receive a report of shaking making it all the way to San Francisco, over 50 miles away.
This morning’s swarm near the small city of San Juan Bautista was the second to hit the area in the last 24 hours.
A group of three earthquakes was reported by USGS, including a magnitude 4.0 seismic event, just between 3pm and 4pm on Thanksgiving.
All six earthquakes detected in this area near the Central California Coast were centered on or close to the Calaveras Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas.
Although the San Andreas is an 800-mile plate boundary responsible for much of the state’s seismic activity, it doesn’t work alone.
The San Andreas is connected to a whole family of parallel and branching faults, including the Calaveras, which takes some of its plate motion and spreads the earthquake risk across the entire region.
In Northern California, Thursday’s earthquake swarms near The Geysers broke out along a network of faults, including the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone and the Healdsburg–Maacama Fault system.
Both of these faults branch out from the San Andreas, which runs straight through the San Francisco Bay Area and into the Pacific Ocean.
