Early-morning 2.9-magnitude quake jolts San Francisco Bay Area awake

A 2.9-magnitude earthquake near Berkeley shook the San Francisco Bay Area awake Thursday, Sept. 15, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The 5.5-mile deep quake hit about 2 miles east of Berkeley at 2:41 a.m., according to the USGS.

More than 750 people from as far away as Vallejo and Pacifica reported feeling the tremor to the agency.

“Why’s there been an earthquake every night in the bay area the past like 3 days like girl be calm,” read one Twitter post about the tremor.

“Are we going to get a big earthquake soon in the Bay Area with all these mini quakes?” another asked.

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, two 4.0-magnitude-plus earthquakes struck California’s wine country north of Santa Rosa, McClatchy News reported..

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale.

Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech. Quakes below 2.5 magnitude are seldom felt by most people.

This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 6:25 AM.