“We rode the dining room table like a rollercoaster.”

(TNS) — Kathryn Geraghty was in a weightlifting class Tuesday night at 24 Hours Fitness on Industrial Highway in Santa Rosa when a sudden jolt caused everything to vibrate.

She said, “We were in the middle of a squat with the bar up when the shaking started. We all looked at each other — wondering, ‘Should we continue class?'”

Moments later, she added, when the aftershock struck, the gym was evacuated.

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck North Bay on Tuesday night, seconds before another tremor occurred, which officials believe was a 3.9-magnitude aftershock.

Officials said that despite the back-to-back tremors, North Bay was left relatively free of major damage and injuries.

Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers tweeted late Tuesday that most of the 911 calls received after the earthquakes were reports of gas leaks and a few broken water lines. “Some falling roof tiles, broken glass from things flying off shelves, two elevators stuck (nobody inside),” he said.

By 7 p.m., the Santa Rosa Police Department issued a warning not to report significant damage or injuries.

The quakes were centered about two miles northeast of central Santa Rosa, according to the US Geological Survey. A preliminary map from the agency showed that their centers were located off Parker Hill Road, north of Chanati Road, within the city limits.

Asked if the second earthquake was definitely a follow-up, Robert de Groot, ShakeAlert System Coordinator at USGS, said aftershocks would have to occur on the same fault line and within a certain distance of the main shock to be considered a follow-up.

“It may take a while to identify it but it looks like it was a follow-up to everything we saw,” he said.

De Groot added that earthquakes were fairly common in California.

“Third and fourth degree events happen fairly frequently. Fifth degree events happen less frequently, but that was kind of a run down,” he said.

The first quake occurred at 6:39 pm and was followed by the aftershock 42 seconds later, according to the US Geological Survey.

Seismologist Lucy Jones wrote on Twitter that the earthquakes were on the Rodgers Creek Fault, part of the San Andreas system.

“Each earthquake has a 5% chance of being followed by a larger earthquake over the next three days,” Jones said. “But most are only a little bit bigger. When it’s so wrong, and capable of a big earthquake, the probability that the next earthquake will be a little bit bigger, but it’s still small.”

Sonoma County and the Bay Area are home to many earthquake faults.

The Rodgers Creek Fault, known as the slip fault, extends from San Pablo Bay at the southern tip of Sonoma County north through Santa Rosa to Healdsburg. It is also part of the Hayward Error System.

It runs along the east side of Santa Rosa – from Mount Taylor, through Doyle Park, near Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and past Santa Rosa Country Cemetery.

The last major earthquake occurred along the Rodgers Creek Fault 53 years ago.

Just before 10 p.m. on October 1, 1969, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck. It was followed about 90 minutes later by a 5.7-magnitude earthquake. The third quake, with a magnitude of 3.8, occurred six hours after the second, the Press Democrats reported at the time.

There were several minor injuries, but no deaths.

According to a USGS report on the 1969 earthquakes, at least 74 buildings were damaged and total losses exceeded $7 million.

Since then there have been other smaller earthquakes along the Rodgers Creek fault.

On August 2, 2006, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck shortly after 8 p.m., with its epicenter three miles west of Glen Ellyn along the Rodgers Creek Fault, experts said. There were no reports of serious damage or injuries.

On November 29, 2010, a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was reported, once again, along the Rodgers Creek Fault. Officials said there were no major damages or injuries.

On September 30, 2021, an earthquake of magnitude 3.2 occurred. The epicenter was about two miles east-southeast of Santa Rosa. Authorities said they caused minor damage and no injuries.

The most damaging earthquake to hit the North Bay region in the past decade occurred on August 24, 2014, when a magnitude 6.0 shaker struck southern Napa County.

Napa County suffered most of the damage and economic losses, estimated at $1 billion. Despite this, Sonoma County declared a state of emergency and estimated damages of about $4.5 million, with more than half of the region’s wineries affected.

In the wake of Tuesday night’s earthquakes, about 760 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in the Fontagrove neighborhood of Santa Rosa and the city’s northeast region lost electricity.

Electricity was restored at 8:11 p.m. PG&E spokesperson Carly Hernandez said the cause of the outage is being investigated.

She added that crews also responded to 14 calls about the smell of gas.

Hernandez said anyone who detects the smell of gas is urged to call 911 or call PG&E at 800-743-5002.

Shortly after the first earthquake of the night, a dispatcher from Redcom, the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Medical Agency, said when contacted by The Press Democrat, “We were attacked.”

At Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa, the quake prompted the evacuation of employees and customers, who had been outside for 10 minutes, according to Lillian Ambrose, manager of Icing jewelry store.

A few pieces of merchandise fell off the store’s walls, she said, adding that one customer was inside when everything started shaking.

“I was dumbfounded, but the customer kind of laughed,” Ambrose said. “She put her basket on the floor and we walked out.”

At about 8 p.m., an employee at Whole Foods in Coddingtown was telling customers that the store had closed. But, moments later, a manager advised customers that the store would open.

The employee, Abby Falls, said that few things fell off the shelves, no employees were injured and everyone exited the store safely.

“We were all in the middle of the deals – it was crazy,” Foles said. “I was with another cashier and all of a sudden the whole store started shivering. She reacted really fast, and she covered under the nearest cash register.”

Several Sonoma County residents told The Press Democrat that they felt the quakes. The tremors extended as far north as Mendocino County and as far south as Santa Clara County, according to various Twitter posts.

“I live in southwest Santa Rosa and both are very important,” Ginger Schechter said of Tuesday night’s earthquake and its aftermath. “Nothing was damaged but, similar to my experience with Loma Prieta (the 1989 earthquake). This was a rolling earthquake that rippled a bit and could be felt while I was standing bracing myself at my door.”

Kaelen McCauley, a Santa Rosa resident, said her family was having tacos dinner when the shaking started.

“For about 20 to 30 seconds, we rode the dining room table as if it were a roller coaster,” McCauley said. “After it calmed down, we got up outside when there was another quick jolt and the rumble was less this time and the house only shook for 10 seconds. We heard a glass crack but that was the extent of the damage.”

At the Flagship Taproom in downtown Santa Rosa, the pergola covering the courtyard swayed and the conversation stopped as customers quickly realized what was happening. Some headed to the sidewalk to get away from the swinging building.

With the tremors over, many people reached for their phones. People followed suit across B Street near Santa Rosa Mall.

Chris Rogers, the mayor of Santa Rosa, said there were no reports of major damage or injuries. He said Santa Rosa had received an increased number of 911 calls, but that “most bumps and scrapes appear to have been reported.”

Rogers added that a city utilities team was sent to assess the city’s buildings and ensure that no major damage occurred.

Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Corsi, who represents Santa Rosa in District 3, said late Tuesday that it was too early to say if there was any damage to county facilities.

Corsi, who added that the Rodgers Creek Fault runs under his neighborhood, was on the phone in his kitchen when the earthquake and aftershocks struck.

“I let out some obscenities and immediately entered the hallway as quickly as I could,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever reacted to an earthquake in this way.”

He said that two water bottles on his kitchen table had fallen and large paintings hanging on his walls had moved, but that his house had not been damaged.

Corsi, who has lived in Santa Rosa for 42 years and has experienced other earthquakes, said Tuesday’s tremors felt like the strongest he’s experienced.

The supervisor said he hoped the earthquakes were “just a wake-up call” – to remind residents to prepare for earthquakes like wildfire.

The Santa Rosa Fire Department has directed residents to srcity.org/455/Earthquakes for tips on what to do to prepare for an earthquake.

Chris Godley, Sonoma County Emergency Management Director, said the county had not received any initial reports of significant damage, but authorities were dealing with a high number of 911 calls in the aftermath of the earthquakes. He said he had not heard any reports of serious injuries, trappings, or major structural damage.

Godley said the department has sent an additional employee to the county fire and emergency medical center to assess reports and requests for help received there.

© 2022 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California), distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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