Oakland became the newest Bay Area city to feel an earthquake on Monday. The tremor struck at 2: 55 PM (local time) with an initial magnitude of 2.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake originated about 2.85 miles deep, with the epicentre situated just north of Montclair.
According to a report by SFGATE, the series of earthquakes around San Ramon carried on into Monday afternoon, following at least seven tremors earlier in the day. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, two additional small quakes hit the area—one registering a preliminary magnitude of 2.9 at 1: 50 p.m., and another measuring 2.6 at 1: 59 p.m.
UC Berkeley seismologist Roland Burgmann told SFGATE that Monday morning’s earthquakes in San Ramon represent a “flare-up” of last month’s swarm, which produced around 90 small quakes in November.
He explained that this type of activity is typical for the San Ramon and Alamo area, which has seen roughly a dozen similar swarms over the past two to two-and-a-half decades.
“These are a little bit different from earthquakes that we usually see, where commonly we see a bigger event first and then you have smaller ones that are called aftershocks. This is different in the sense that they come and go for a while, they tend to never get very big,” he told SFG