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Magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits San Francisco Bay Area in biggest earthquake since 1989 | |
(35 minutes later) | |
An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale has hit northern California, causing some property damage. | |
It struck four miles north-west of the town of American Canyon in Napa County and is the biggest earthquake the San Francisco Bay Area has seen since 1989. | |
There have been no immediate reports of fatalities, with only power outages and some property damage having been reported. | |
The US Geological Survey said that it first struck at 3.20am local time (10.20am GMT) at a depth of 6.7 miles. | |
The government agency gave the quake an 'orange' status, which says that while fatalities are expected to be low, economic losses could be significant. | |
"Significant damage is likely and the disaster is potentially widespread," the report states. | |
It added: "Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly resistant to earthquake shaking, though some vulnerable structures exist." | |
In 1989 an earthquake measuring 6.9 struck the Santa Cruz area of California, killing 62 people, according to government figures. | |
Prior to that one there had been quakes of 5.7 and 5.8 in 1983 and 1980 respectively. | |
This "perceived shaking" of this earthquake is said by the US Geological Survey to have been "severe" for about 15,000 residents at the very epicentre. | |
It also said potential structural damage to vulnerable buildings could be "heavy". | |
MC Hammer has been live tweeting the earthquake after saying he was by the San Francisco airport: "I know they're on top of it at the airports but it was violent enough to damage runways .. #earthquakesSF", he said. | |
Earthquake just shook the city .. | |
Another Twitter user said: "pretty shaky shock waves of magnitude more than 6 on Richter Scale felt at Alemany Boulevard, San Francisco!" | |
Spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, Albie Esparza, said: "All facilities reported no damage at this time, and operations continue normally." |