GONZALES — A 4.7 earthquake rocked the region east of Gonzales, south of the Pajaro Valley, Monday. While there were no reports of injuries or structural damage in the 11:31 a.m. incident, many people reported on social media that their nerves were rattled by the incident. The episode was followed by two aftershocks of 2.8 and 2.7.
In a Facebook post, Amy Villarreal wrote, “In Ryan Ranch, Monterey, [it] shook our whole building! Scared me to death.”
Cal Fire officials said they were monitoring the situation but that there were no emergency calls.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck 13 miles northeast of Gonzales at a depth of about 3.8 miles along the San Andreas Fault.
The incident falls on the coattails of a massive world scale quake on the Iraq/Iran border Sunday night that reached 7.3 on the Richter Scale and killed at least 452 people and injured more that 7,000 thousand, CNN news reported.
According to United States Geological Survey geophysicist Ole Caven, that portion of the San Andreas is considered a “creeping” fault, meaning the area continually deforms as opposed to building up energy and causing stronger earthquakes, Caven said.
Because of that, the 4.7-magnitude quake is at the upper limit of what is expected in that area, he said.
The quake caused only minor damage, but was felt as far north as San Francisco, Caven said.
“This is a gentle reminder we live in earthquake country,” he said.
As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, 11 aftershocks had been reported, most with magnitudes of 1 and 2.
This will continue, with the aftershocks decreasing in magnitude, Caven said.
