Santa Cruz Mountain communities woken up to 4.6 earthquake, felt throughout Bay Area
BOULDER CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 struck in the Santa Cruz Mountains early Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
It hit at 1:41 a.m. and was centered near Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County. According to the USGS, it was initially a 4.9 magnitude, but was then downgraded to 4.6.
WATCH: USGS seismologist discusses 4.6 earthquake that shook the Bay Area
ABC7 Eyewitness News viewers from across the Bay Area felt the shaking and were woken up. People reportedly felt it in Richmond, Mountain View, Hayward, Pacheco, Oakland and San Francisco. There were no major reports of damage.
There have been no aftershocks, but USGS seismologist Robert de Groot told ABC7 Eyewitness News that there's about a 40% chance for a magnitude 3.0 quake or larger within the next week.
Though the earthquake's magnitude was enough to knock some items off the shelf, the USGS confirmed that it's still what it considers a "light" one.
"There are on the order of 50 earthquakes a day in California. These magnitude earthquakes don't happen very frequently, but they happen frequently enough that there are these reminders that we do live in earthquake country," de Groot said.
Items in one aisle of the Boulder Creek Drug Store fell off from the shaking and were seen on the floor.
Jenna Lupertino, the owner of Jenna Sue's Cafe across the street from the drug store, lives even closer to the epicenter than her business. She says the quake woke her up and gave her a scare.
"It was super loud, I woke up, jumped out of bed, ran to my daughter's room and then saw that she was fine and nothing really fell over in my house except for a mirror," Lupertino said. "And then I thought about the syrups here and I thought 'Oh my gosh, they're going to be all over the floor' and then that inner shaking feeling that doesn't go away for probably like 15-20 minutes waiting for that next aftershock."
Also in Boulder Creek, a nursery cam video shows the moments of shaking. The baby seems unfazed while mom comes into the room to check on the child.
The mountain communities are no strangers to natural disasters.
"I just woke up and I was screaming, and I just grabbed onto my husband," Boulder Creek resident Lydia Easley said. "I thought a tree was falling through the house."
"I was laying in bed talking to my dog, and I heard a bang, and it felt like a whole house lifted up about a half inch," Boulder Creek Resident William Masterson said.
The epicenter was just a block away from Emelia's home.
"I was making soap," Emelia said. "It's a full moon, so it's a good time for that. And then things were just rocking. I have a young one, so I ran down my hallway and it's pretty wide, but I was running and I was, like, bouncing off the sides of the walls."
Emelia owns the Air and Fire Bazaar in nearby Boulder Creek.
Her shop, and neighbors, saw a fair amount of damage.
"We had candles flying, gargoyles flying off the shelf and some books and tarot and crystals were kind of everywhere," Emelia said. "Crystal balls were rolling around."
More than 28,000 reports came into USGS.
If you didn't get an alert this morning, this is a good time for a reminder to download the MyShake app or sign up from alerts from USGS so you can get those important few seconds to prepare for the next quake.
MAP: Significant San Francisco Bay Area fault lines and strong earthquakes
Zoom in on the map below and compare where you live to the significant faults and where strong earthquakes have struck in the Bay Area.
Stay with ABC7 News for the latest details on this developing story.
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