Napa reels from $1 BILLION in damage caused by the largest California earthquake in 25 years: Experts warn Bay Area risks DOZENS of powerful aftershocks for another week
- The 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit Northern California about six miles southwest of Napa around 3:30am Sunday morning
- It was the largest earthquake to hit California since the 1989 Loma Prieta quake
- Queen of the Valley Hospital has treated 89 patients for injuries related to the South Napa Earthquake
- At least three injuries are described as ‘major’
- About 36 aftershocks have been recorded so far – the largest registering at 3.6 magnitude
- Pictures posted to social media show serious damage to buildings and roads in the California wine country
- The earthquake also set off several fires in the Napa area, including one in a mobile home park
- There is a small 5- to 10-percent chance that this morning’s earthquake is a prelude to a larger event
- Gov Jerry Brown has called a state of emergency
The powerful magnitude 6.0 earthquake that rocked California wine country early Sunday still has havoc to wreak even as relative calm returns to the area: the crippling cost of repairs and the high likelihood of potentially powerful aftershocks.
With the immediate dangers like gas-fueled fueled fires and toppling roofs now behind them, residents of Napa and surrounding Bay Area communities have begun to assess the damages, which the New York Times reports could reach $1 billion.
Meanwhile, there could be more damages to come as experts warn that the next week could bring dozens of aftershocks, some of them nearly as powerful or even just as strong as Sunday’s temblor.
Bricks and debris surround the Alexandria Square building in Napa, California following Sunday’s earthquake that has left 15 to 16 buildings no longer inhabitable after the 6.0 tremor
Historic: People pass by a United States Post Office building with broken windows in downtown Napa, California, after the 6.1 Earthquake struck the area on Sunday
Surveying the damage: Building’s left ruined after Sunday’s 6.0 magnitude earthquake which struck Napa, California on Sunday
Problems have just begun: The fires have gone out in Napa, California after Sunday’s 6.0 magnitude quake, but the headache, fueled by repair costs and the risk of aftershocks, has only begun
Shocking costs: Estimates have already put the costs of rebuilding and repairing from the quake at $1 billion
Damages: Stores across the area were strewn with the shattered bottle of wine and drive the economies of many towns in and around Napa County, where the quake struck
Rumbled: Cellar workers continue cleanup after a number of barrels toppled following an earthquake at the Saintsbury winery in Napa, California on Sunday
Barrels filled with Cabernet Sauvignon are toppled on one another following an earthquake at the B.R. Cohn Winery barrel storage facility on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, in Napa, California
Collapsed: Barrels are strewn about inside the storage room of Bouchaine Vineyards in Napa in downtown Napa, California after an earthquake struck the area. California’s governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on Sunday following the strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake that seriously injured three people
Ruined: Grace Hardy cleans up wine bottles at nakedwines.com in Napa. Winemakers in California’s storied Napa Valley woke up to thousands of broken bottles, barrels and gallons of ruined wine
Along with the warning comes the likelihood of as many 70 aftershocks, reports the Sacramento Bee, that could remind Northern California over the next week that they live in an active fault zone.
Reports had already come in Sunday afternoon of small aftershocks, which while not damaging served as uneasy reminders of the danger that had passed only hours before.
The 30-second earthquake struck just before 3:30am between the towns of American Canyon and Napa in the heart of the state’s famous wine country, Leslie Gordon of the U.S. Geological Survey said.
It’s the largest earthquake to shake the Bay Area since the deadly 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake in 1989, the USGS said.
Hugging it out: Della Murphy (2-R) hugs her mother Nola Rawlins 83, as they survey Ms. Rawlins home, which was one of four mobile homes that were destroyed by a fire at the Napa Valley mobile home park after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday
Crushed: One of the cars damaged when the carport at the Charter Oaks apartment complex collapsed during an earthquake on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, in Napa, Californi
A water truck goes past a cracked section of roadway in the Carneros district following an earthquake Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, in Napa, Calif. The largest earthquake to hit the San Francisco Bay Area in 25 years struck before dawn on Sunday, sending scores of people to hospitals
Sad: Winemaker Tom Montgomery stands in wine and reacts to seeing damage following an earthquake at the B.R. Cohn Winery barrel storage facility
Serenity shattered: Cracks slice through a United States Post Office building in downtown Napa, California after an earthquake struck the area. California’s governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday following a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake that seriously injured three people including a child and ignited fires in the scenic Napa valley wine region
Damages large and small: Many buildings suffered obvious damages, notwithstanding that done to foundations and other under-the-surface damages, in Napa, a town of 77,000
Three people suffered serious injuries from the quake, including a child who was hit with a falling fire place
Experts warned Sunday that dozens of aftershocks could soon come as reports of small temblors became to pour in Sunday afternoon
Brick by brick: Bricks rest atop a car in Napa from a damaged wall following an earthquake Sunday. Some have put damage estimates at a billion dollars
Hurts commerce: Nina Quidit cleans up the Dollar Plus and Party Supplies Store in American Canyon after Sunday’s earthquake. Quidit and her husband were woken up in the early morning hours by the store’s alarm company and immediately drove in to begin clean up
Collapse: Children look at some of the more than a dozen vehicles damaged when the carport at the Charter Oaks apartment complex collapsed
The shaking set off car alarms and had residents of neighboring Sonoma County running out of their houses in the middle of night.
After the quake, residents flooded social media with pictures and video of the earthquake’s aftermath, showing shook-up kitchens, grocery store aisles littered with snacks and shattered bottles spilling liquid at the region’s wineries.
Several historic buildings in downtown Napa sustained heavy damage, their brick facades crumbling onto the street.
Three of the patients suffered ‘major injuries’ including a child who was flown by helicopter to a trauma clinic. As for the other two adult patients, one suffered a heart attack and another fractured their hip and had to go into surgery.
The hospital set up an outdoor triage to treat the influx of patients.
So far, there are no reports of fatalities or missing persons.
Playtime: Kids skateboard over buckled roads in a residential neighborhood of Napa, California after an Earthquake struck the area on August 24, 2014
Air time: Skateboarder Chris Young, 22, launches himself off a buckled sidewalk in Napa, Calif., following an earthquake on Sunday
Life goes on: Skateboarder Bayley Lorenzen, 12, launches himself off buckled pavement in Napa, following Sunday’s earthquake
A worker looks at a pile of wine bottles that were thrown from the shelves at Van’s Liquors. The region is famous for wine production and the earthquake hit right in the middle of harvest season
Gas leaks caused by the earthquake set off several fires in the area, including this blaze which broke out at a Napa mobile park
The earthquake also started several fires, with firefighters battling a blaze that started in a mobile home park in the area. Four homes were completely destroyed in that fire.
Joni and Jeff Enos live were woken up in the middle of the night by the earthquake, at their home in Browns Valley near the epicenter.
‘We’re OK, but it felt like somebody lifted our house up and shook it,’ Joni told the Mercury News. ‘The neighbor’s chimney’s on the lawn, our pool’s half empty. It did weird stuff, uprooted little trees, pots broken. Our fountain toppled over.’
Steve Brody inspects damage to the interior of his mobile home after an earthquake which hit the Napa Valley Mobile Home Park
Fallen olive oil bottles are seen at the Lucero Olive Oil store
Steve Brody inspects damage to the interior of his mobile home after an earthquake
Diana Martini described the terrifying early-morning quake to ABC News: ‘I was alone in the house so I didn’t know what to do, and the first thing when it stopped – I ran under the table and tried to get cover because it’s the first thing they say to do for an earthquake is get under the table.’
‘This is the first major quake that I’ve been in and I can tell you it’s scary,’ Derek Moore added on Good Morning America.
Moore and his wife were woken up by the first quake, and rushed to get their two kids. He says he had to bust through one of the bedroom doors since the dresser had fallen over, blocking the entryway.
A handout Shake Map released by the US Geological Survey (USGS) on August 24 shows the area of the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that hit a few miles northwest of American Canyon, California
The earthquake hit south of Napa early this morning around 3:30am, and lasted for about 30 seconds. Above, a damaged grocery store in American Canyon
Downtown Napa sustained serious damage in the earthquake, including this historic building which lost the top corner
Sunday’s earthquake was the largest to hit the state since the Lomo Prieta earthquake of 1989, which killed 63. Above, another view of a damaged building in Napa
Building rubble fell onto this car in Northern California, shattering the glass and covering the parking lot in debris.
‘It was a rolling quake,’ said Oakland resident Rich Lieberman. ‘It started very much like a rolling sensation and just got progressively worse in terms of length. Not so much in terms of shaking, but it did shake. It felt like a side-to-side kind of rolling sensation. Nothing violent but extremely lengthy and extremely active.’
The USGS says the depth of the earthquake was just less than seven miles, and at least 36 small aftershocks have occurred in the Napa wine country.
Residents are now bracing for a larger aftershock, that could hit the area with another 5.0 magnitude earthquake within the next week.
There is also a small 5 to 10 per cent chance that this morning’s earthquake is a prelude to a larger quake, according to the USGS.
People survey a destroyed Napa storefront following the earthquake. There have been about 36 recorded aftershocks since the initial jolt this morning
There is a 54 per cent chance that an aftershock larger that 5.0 magnitude will hit the area within a week. Above, shattered glass litters the street outside a Napa, California business Sunday morning, following the 6.0 earthquake
‘A quake of that size in a populated area is of course widely felt throughout that region,’ said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the USGS in Golden, Colorado, ‘The 6.0 is a sizeable quake for this area. It’s a shallow quake. It’s about 6 miles deep. We received hundreds of reports on our website from people that felt it in the surrounding area.’
The earthquake was felt as far north as Sacramento and as far south as Santa Cruz.
According to USGS estimates, 15,000 people experienced ‘severe’ shaking; 106,000 people felt ‘very strong’ shaking; 176,000 felt ‘strong’ shaking and 738,000 felt ‘moderate’ shaking.
It appears to have happened along the West Napa fault line, a fault line that isn’t as active as the more infamous Calaveras and San Andreas fault lines also in the area.
About 50,000 people are without power following the earthquake. Above, local residents survey the damage to a historic building in downtown Napa
California Highway Patrol says there have been numerous flat tires from motorist driving on damaged roads. Above, bricks litter the street in Napa near the offices for Wine Spectator magazine
The earthquake caused power outages for an estimated 50,000 customers, according to the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Those outages are centered in the towns of Napa, Sonoma and Santa Rosa.
California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Bartlett said cracks and damage to pavement closed the westbound Interstate 80 connector to westbound State Route 37 in Vallejo and westbound State Route 37 at the Sonoma off ramp. He says there haven’t been reports of injuries or people stranded in their cars, but there are numerous flat tires from motorists driving over damaged roads.
Highway Patrol and the California Department of Transportation was checking roadways for damage, Bartlett said.
Buildings in downtown Napa have sustained major damage, according to city spokesman Barry Martin. Bricks have fallen onto the steps at this Napa building
California Highway Patrol Officer Daniel Hill told KTVU-TV that road damage appears confined to the Napa and Sonoma areas. He said there appears to be no damage to major bridges in the Bay Area.
In Napa, city spokesman Barry Martin there has been significant damage. Store windows were broken and water mains broke in several location, one of which left at least one street flooded. Power outages left streetlights dark.
Numerous emergency vehicles were on the roads in Napa and Sonoma counties.
California Gov Jerry Brown, who lives in the Bay Area near Oakland, issued a state of emergency following the quake.
‘My office of emergency services has been on full activation since early this morning and is working closely with state and local emergency managers, first responders and transportation officials to respond to impacts to residents and critical infrastructure,’ he said in a statement this morning.
‘These public safety officials are doing all they can to help residents and those living in affected areas should follow their guidance and instruction.’
President Barack Obama has been briefed on the situation back in Washington, DC.
Sunday’s earthquake was the largest to hit California since the Lomo Prieta quake of 1989.That 6.9 quake hit south of the Bay Area during the World Series and caused 63 deaths, more than 3,000 injuries, as well as severe structural damage in Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
The largest earthquake ever recorded in California was a 7.8 earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906.