2007 Alum Rock earthquake

2007 Alum Rock earthquake

Date	October 30, 2007 (2007-10-30)
Magnitude	5.6 Mw
Depth	5.7 miles (9 km)
Epicenter	37°25′55″N 121°46′34″W / 37.432°N 121.776°W / 37.432; -121.776Coordinates: 37°25′55″N 121°46′34″W / 37.432°N 121.776°W / 37.432; -121.776
Countries or regions	United States
Casualties	none

The 2007 Alum Rock earthquake occurred on October 30, 2007 at approximately 8:04 p.m. PDT (October 31, 3:04 a.m. UTC)^[1] in Alum Rock Park in San Jose, California. It measured 5.6 on the moment magnitude scale and had a depth of 5.7 miles (9.2 km).^[2]

The Alum Rock earthquake was the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale. Ground shaking from the Alum Rock quake reached San Francisco and Oakland and other points further north.

ElarmS, an earthquake early warning system, accurately predicted the quake seconds before it struck, correctly estimating the quake's magnitude to within 0.5 magnitude units using only three to four seconds worth of data. Scientists with the California Integrated Seismic Network hope to refine the system to provide a 10-second warning in a similar quake to residents of Oakland and San Francisco.^[3]

Geology

The quake originated on the Calaveras Fault. 60,000 felt reports existed far beyond Santa Rosa. The earthquake ruptured an area of the fault for a length of about 5 km (3.1 mi) beginning at the hypocenter and extending southeast. No surface trace of the earthquake along the fault.^[4]

Damage

The earthquake caused minor damage, such as knocking things off of shelves, but caused no casualties. The shaking was felt as far north as Eugene, Oregon. Some parts of the area felt the rupture for up to 15 seconds. David Oppenheimer, a seismologist at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), said that although the quake was felt as a strong jolt over a wide region, it was more significant because it caused stress changes in the Calaveras Fault and the nearby Hayward Fault.^[5]

See also

• Earthquakes in California
• List of earthquakes in the United States

References

1. ^ "The Alum Rock Earthquake of October 30, 2007, 08:04 pm PDT". Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. http://seismo.berkeley.edu/~peggy/AlumRock.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
2. ^ Associated Press (2007-10-31). "Moderate quake rattles Bay Area". CNN. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080917054918/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/30/california.quake/index.html. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
3. ^ Early warning system predicted shaking from Oct. 30 quake, PhysOrg.com, December 11, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
4. ^ "Magnitude 5.6 - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA". USGS. 2008-09-23. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/nc40204628/#summary. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
5. ^ Perlman, David (2007-10-31). "Quake raises danger of more action on volatile Hayward Fault". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/31/MNCAT3RA1.DTL. Retrieved 2008-10-10.