Earthquake Shakes Napa Valley
6.0 Magnitude Shakes a Small Town In CA.
The quake that struck Napa Valley, California at about 3:20am on August 24, was found to be a 6.0 magnitude quake. At 6.7 miles under the Earth it was the largest quake to strike the area since the Loma Prieta quake nearly 25 years ago.
Fires have been sparked damaging a few homes. Power outages are sweeping across the town. And water mains have burst leaving many without water. Highway 37 was closed and was given a clean bill of health.Epicenter
Destruction in Wine Country
Damage to the Court House
Not As Bad As We Thought?
Even though there has been a lot of damage to Napa Valley there have been some positive parts about the quake. Many parts of the town have been in the drought and the earthquake caused cracks to open up in the ground causing ground water to seep from water fissures. This is letting the town’s reservoirs fill up, giving the thirsty community lot’s of water. This has been a great help with the drought that has swept over most of California.
Injuries
Next Time We Will Be Prepared
The Cause
The quake happened along the Franklin Fault close to the San Andreas Fault line. The Franklin Fault has thought to be dormant for 1.6 million years. This is the first time in a long time that activity has been found on this fault.
It happened at a transform boundary. This is much like the San Andreas fault. The North American Plate and the Pacific plate are moving past each other which causes many earthquakes on the Californian coast. The quake caused many cracks to open up in the earth.