Earthquake Hits Bay Area; Scores Injured; Three Critically
- Details
- Category: World News
- Published on Sunday, 24 August 2014 15:11
- Written by Janet Walker
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area this morning causing small pockets of damage as the quake rolled through the northern California wine country, startling sleeping residents of the Napa Valley region.
In the hours since the 3:30am PST quake, authorities have reported at least 120 injuries, three critically including one child who was airlifted to San Francisco trauma unit after a chimney fell on him.
Napa Valley Hospital reported the majority of injuries are minor cuts, bruises, scrapes, fear and also indicated they also treated a heart attack and fractured hip victim.
Two mild aftershocks registering 3.6 and 2.8 on the Richter scale, have rattled the frayed nerves of locals who are picking through the debris, cleaning up and pausing. Geological predictions are low that a larger quake could occur in the next five to ten days.
Governor Jerry Brown has declared the area in a State of Emergency. Damage estimates in the wake of the tremor are inconclusive although local authorities have determined several water main breaks, electrical outages, and are performing visual structural damage checks.
Napa Valley is home to the regions premiere wines and produces annual revenue of over 1billion dollars in tourism drawing nearly 3million visitors per year.
