6.0-plus earthquakes leave much of California and Chile in the dark

A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted California early Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. Three people were critically injured and 87 are being treated for minor injuries. The quake happened at 3.20am PDT, waking many San Francisco Bay Area residents. Utility provider PG&E said at least 15,000 customers lost power across Northern California. It’s the largest earthquake to shake the Bay Area since the 1989 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta quake.

It started very much like a rolling sensation and just got progressively worse in terms of length. It felt like a side-to-side kind of rolling sensation. Nothing violent but extremely lengthy and extremely active.

Rich Lieberman, Oakland resident

The San Francisco quake came just hours after a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake jolted central Chile. Though there were no immediate reports of fatalities or serious damage, about 100,000 were without electricity. The epicentre was 50 kilometres north-northeast of the port city of Valparaiso, the USGS said, and there is no tsunami risk. Quakes are common in Chile, the world’s top copper producer, and its infrastructure is designed to withstand strong tremors.

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