Earthquake Swarm Hits Along California’s San Andreas Fault, Felt in Hollister

An earthquake swarm rattled part of Northern California, hitting along the San Andreas Fault, with the largest registering as a 4.1 in magnitude.

No major damage was done, officials told CBS San Francisco.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake 4.1 magnitude quake hit at 5:58 a.m. on Nov. 2 around 12 miles southwest of Tres Pinos near Hollister in San Benito County.

The tremor was followed by 3.6, 3.2, 3.0, 3.2, and 3.6 magnitude earthquakes, centered around the same area.

The USGS said the quakes were felt in Hollister, Gonzales, Salinas, Carmel Valley, and Santa Cruz, CBS reported.

An earthquake swarm rattled part of Northern California, hitting along the San Andreas Fault, with the largest registering as a 4.1 in magnitude. USGS

“Nice way to start the day… A pleasant 4.0 to shake the cats through the roof at 6 a.m.,” one woman from the Central Valley tweeted. “Felt last 2 after 6 a.m. Was awake. I’m like I’m hearing moving and cracking,” said local Kristina Pinto.

Joni Lester-Hook also wrote: “Still shaky off and on here.”

The San Andreas Fault, where the earthquakes hit, is the sliding boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, says Geology.com.

“It slices California in two from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border. San Diego, Los Angeles, and Big Sur are on the Pacific Plate. San Francisco, Sacramento, and the Sierra Nevada are on the North American Plate. And despite San Francisco’s legendary 1906 earthquake, the San Andreas Fault does not go through the city,” the writeup from the website reads.

“Communities like Desert Hot Springs, San Bernardino, Wrightwood, Palmdale, Gorman, Frazier Park, Daly City, Point Reyes Station, and Bodega Bay lie squarely on the fault and are sitting ducks,” it adds.