Earthquake Swarm Rattles California Region

Take your hat off for a minute. Over about a day, the USGS recorded more than two dozen minor quakes within 30 miles of the San Andreas Fault, the Daily Mail reports. The strongest was a magnitude 2.7 in The Geysers, a geothermal field north of San Francisco, and a trio of magnitude 2.5 quakes were recorded near Berkeley, Concord and Gilroy.

The last major Bay Area quake cited was the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, a magnitude 6.9 that killed 63 people. In September, the USGS raised the chance of a major Northern California disaster within three decades from 72 to 74.1 percent.

USGS seismologist Ned Field told the Daily Mail, “Things seem to be pretty locked and loaded. We’d be wise to be ready.” Families in the region should have a plan, supplies on hand, and a way to reach each other, and they should check on their neighbors.

“Things seem to be pretty locked and loaded. We’d be wise to be ready.”Ned Field, USGS seismologist, via Daily Mail