On Wednesday, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake rattled a part of California, striking the region situated between the state capital and the San Francisco Bay area. The seismic event, which occurred at 9:29 a.m., had its epicenter located in the agricultural Isleton area, approximately 32 miles (52 kilometers) southwest of Sacramento, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. This region is predominantly characterized by the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Kim Nava, spokesperson for the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services, noted that there were no immediate reports of injuries resulting from the earthquake. Notably, no damage was reported concerning the extensive network of levees that safeguard the area’s farmland.
The earthquake also activated the West Coast’s ShakeAlert system, a technology designed to detect the onset of an earthquake and send alerts to smartphones in areas anticipated to experience seismic shaking.
In Sacramento, the ShakeAlert system delivered an alert before the actual shaking began. On the ninth floor of a high-rise building housing The Associated Press’ Sacramento office, blinds swayed as a consequence of the tremor.
Initially, the earthquake was estimated to have a magnitude of 5.7, but it was subsequently downgraded.
This event in Isleton coincided with the 34th anniversary of the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay region on October 17, 1989. Additionally, it occurred one day before California’s annual statewide ShakeOut earthquake drill.
