Earthquake Story

Californians felt the ground tremble and shake beneath their feet early Monday morning when an earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay area around 8:12 a.m. PDT.

Although the tremors from the earthquake could be felt throughout the Bay area, Hayward suffered the greatest damage from the earthquake.

The epicenter of the earthquake, located beneath Hayward Hills, had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale as stated by Penny Gertz, a scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.

Hayward, like many other California cities, sits directly on a major fault line.

According to Gertz, the earthquake erupted from the Hayward Fault, which ran underneath Hayward Hills. Gertz added that this particular quake was “a strong one” and that people as far as Los Angeles and Redding felt tremors from the quake.

The earthquake, however, left a heavier imprint on a few Californians than it did on others.

Jennifer Vu, a public information officer from the Hayward Fire Department, reported that the earthquake rocked McHenry’s Auto Supply on 2342 Plum St. and partially collapsed the building.

Luckily, less than 10 people were affected by the collapse.

Two people were killed and six were injured, Vu said. Three of the six people suffered severe injuries and were hospitalized at the Hayward General Hospital, she detailed, but luckily there have been no other reports of serious injuries in Hayward.

Law enforcement and public safety services immediately kicked into action to search the scene for survivors and aid those who had been injured by the quake.

Twenty-one fire personnel, twelve police officers and five American Red Cross workers arrived at the rubble where McHenry’s Auto Supply once stood, Vu stated, some arriving within mere minutes of the quake and the building’s collapse.

No other buildings close to the site of the building’s location collapsed, but residents nearby were very aware of the incident.

Mike Beamer, who lives in the apartment right across the street from McHenry’s, described that he could feel the building’s collapse for the 30 seconds that it lasted, with a big jolt right in the middle.

“I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling. I dove under the table just as I heard an explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew through my kitchen window. That’s when the screaming start across the street,” Beamer detailed.

Hayward residents are expecting to make a recovery from the quake and be prepared for the next time a quake hits, and those killed will be remembered.

Names of the dead are being withheld pending notifications of families, said Vu.