San Francisco Bay Area residents feel moderate earthquake

AROMAS, Calif. – People throughout the San Francisco Bay area on Saturday night reported feeling a magnitude 4.2 earthquake that hit the region.

The earthquake hit 8:01 p.m and had an epicenter about 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) southeast of Aromas, a town of about 2,650 people that straddles Monterey and San Benito counties, the U.S. Geological Survey said. About five minutes later, the same area was hit by a 3.0 temblor, the agency said.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that social media activity indicates that the earthquake was felt not only in the counties near where it was centred, but at least as far as San Francisco and Contra Costa counties.

There were no immediate reports of any major injuries or damage, the newspaper said.

The initial quake was the second-biggest earthquake in California this year, the Mercury News said. A 4.3 earthquake was reported Jan. 2 near Pinnacles National Park, also in the Monterey County region, the newspaper reported.