Earthquake Story

8:12 am PDT, an earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay Area. Two people were killed and six injured in an auto supply shop that partially collapsed due to the quake. "Names of the dead are being withheld pending notifications of families." public information officer from the Hayward Fire Department Jennifer Vu said.

Hayward resident Mike Beamer stated that he was eating his breakfast when he felt a rolling motion that lasted 30 seconds with a big jolt in the middle. The room started rolling, and he dove under his table when he heard an explosion and a chunk of cement flew through the kitchen window. "That’s when the screaming started across the street.” Beamer said.

Firefighters stabilized the partially collapsed shop with rope, conducted a search throughout the building and capped a gas line after detecting a gas leak at the site.

The epicenter of the earthquake located under the Hayward Hills had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale. Geologist Penny Gertz from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park called the quake a “strong one” and said it occurred on the Hayward Fault, which runs under the hills. "Twenty-one fire personnel, 12 police and five American Red Cross workers responded to the building collapse, with some arriving within four minutes of the quake." Vu said.

Three of the six people injured were hospitalized at Hayward General Hospital. No other serious injuries were reported according to Vu. "People as far south as Los Angeles and as far north as Redding felt the quake." Gertz said.