4.4 magnitude earthquake rocks Santa Rosa; jolt felt throughout North Bay and region
SANTA ROSA -- A pair of earthquakes measuring 4.4 and 3.9 in magnitude rocked a neighborhood in Santa Rosa Tuesday afternoon and were felt widely across the region.
Preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey showed the 4.4 quake hit at 6:39 p.m. and was followed less than a minute later by the 3.9 shaker in the area around Chanate Road and Hidden Valley Park east of U.S. Highway 101 in northwest Santa Rosa.
There was no immediate word of any significant damage or injuries. On social media, residents posted messages of broken dishes and pictures falling off of walls.
The Santa Rosa Fire Department sent out a community alert -- "Santa Rosa Fire has responded to multiple reports of odors of gas, gas leaks, fire alarms as well as stuck elevators. No reports of any injuries related to the quake at this time."
The quake hit along the Rogers Creek Fault and people felt it across the North Bay region and as far south as San Francisco and Daly City.
In Santa Rosa, the temblor sent liquor bottles crashing to the floor and shook refrigerators loaded with pre-mixed cocktails at Campus Market and Liquor on Mendocino Avenue.
The owner of L'Oro Di Napoli on 4th Street said the earthquake rattled all the wine bottles and glassware in the restaurant, but thankfully, nothing fell to the ground.
"Crazy, everything was shaking. Chef ran out. I'm used to it I grew up in San Francisco, so it was nothing for me," said owner Carlo Poladian. "The official one felt like everyone was scared, the second one everybody ran out, it was pretty intense."
"I was just inside having dinner at the restaurant and all of a sudden we could feel the whole place start to shake and we looked at each other for a second and we were like 'earthquake, oh my god,'" said Dave Tipton of Windsor, who dined at L'Oro Di Napoli.
"I felt like it was pretty dramatic, but I haven't felt an earthquake before so," said Cori Thomas of Windsor.
"We had a reservation, because it's my wife's birthday and we walked down there and they said they had a gas leak and everyone was leaving and reservation was canceled, so we've been wandering around and we made lemonade out of lemons," said Andrew McLaughlin of Santa Rosa.
McLaughlin's wife Nicole McMurray was at their home when the quake struck.
"I was on the second floor and I just put our baby down and was coming out of a room and actually kind of stumbled a little bit into the doorframe, and I noticed our ceiling fans were definitely moving and blinds were moving and woke the baby back up, unfortunately," she said.
Several residents tweeted that they received phone alerts through the state moments before the temblor hit.
Many on social media posted of feeling a pair of jolts within seconds of each other.
On Twitter, Shaun Moran said, "I'm in Santa Rosa and felt 2 earthquakes about 30 seconds apart. It was loud and shock really good. Things fell off of shelves. Live near downtown."
Ambersonian tweeted: "Dude. I'm no earthquake rookie but that felt WAY bigger. I guess because the epicenter was here in Santa Rosa it felt extra nuts. Plus the aftershock was ridiculous. Phew. Whatta rush."
Lesa Tanner tweeted: "We felt the earthquake and the aftershock in Graton. Felt like something slamming into my house. Everything rattled but nothing fell."
Tammy Hunter Beasley tweeted: "Oh my god - my entire house just felt like it cracked. It shook. Mirrors and pictures came off walls. Son was hiding in my bed. Literally right under my house"
Sarah Shaboon tweeted: "Wow! We def felt those 2 solid earthquakes. My cat is a little unsettled right now. My adrenaline is pumping cause I went into momma protection mode. Thankfully they were very short (but mighty) quakes. My kids were then thought it was kinda cool. They've never felt one b4."
Motorists even felt the shaker.
Malinalli Lopez posted: "I was driving and my car started shaking really badly, not a good feeling. A good reminder of the power of mother nature."
Betty Yu contributed to this report.
