Quick Take
A 4.6 magnitude earthquake struck near Boulder Creek early Thursday morning, jolting residents across Santa Cruz County awake and marking the region’s strongest temblor in more than three decades, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Despite widespread reports of shaking, noise and minor household damage, officials said there were no injuries or structural damage, as residents described fear and renewed urgency around earthquake preparedness.
Julie Wolfe was watching TV in her Boulder Creek home early Thursday morning when she stood to walk to her bedroom. Suddenly, her entire house rumbled.
“I was screaming, I was so scared,” said Wolfe, 65. “I’m a lifetime California resident. This is one of the most intense, scariest earthquakes I think I’ve ever experienced.”
Thursday morning’s 4.6 magnitude earthquake was the biggest temblor to hit Santa Cruz County since April 18, 1990, when two, of magnitudes 5.1 and 5.4, hit east of Watsonville, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). In 1991, an earthquake of magnitude 4.6 hit north of Interlaken, outside Watsonville.
Like Wolfe, residents across Santa Cruz County and all the way to San Francisco felt the intense shaker at about 1:41 a.m. The epicenter was just outside Boulder Creek’s downtown, at a depth of about 6.5 miles.
The quake occurred near the San Andreas fault, USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala told the Los Angeles Times.
“For the area, it’s normally not this large,” she said. “We can expect aftershocks less in magnitude” for the next several days.
Cecile Juliette, spokesperson for Cal Fire’s CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit, told Lookout there were no reported injuries or damaged structures from the earthquake.
“I live in Boulder Creek, it was very intense,” she said. “It’s a great reminder that it can happen at any time, and we all need to be ready.”
Residents of San Lorenzo Valley communities were closest to the epicenter, and shared their reactions on social media, as well as with Lookout.
On Facebook, Reddit and other social media, users posted photos, videos and comments of shock and curiosity about the early morning tremor. Some residents compared it to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake of magnitude 6.9. Others shared stories of shaken cats and dogs scurrying around homes, falling shelves, broken glass and even a loud “boom.”
Katie Gelacio, 57, and her husband were jolted awake. Her cats, she said, started running around maniacally. She checked a video recording from her SimpliSafe camera of the quake and its audio filmed from outside her home.
“It was bizarre to hear the boom,” she said. “Capturing that sound was just crazy. I’m still a little shaken.”
Gelacio posted the video on the Boulder Creek Neighbors Facebook group, where people commented, “The sound is wild” and, “I thought it was an explosion.”
Gelacio, like others who have lived in the area for decades, recalled the Loma Prieta earthquake. She was at Dominican Hospital taking a class when it hit on Oct. 17, 1989: “This felt the same.”
Wolfe was in downtown San Jose when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit. To her, Thursday’s quake felt much stronger.
“This felt bigger than the ‘89 quake,” she said. “It felt like a giant was grabbing onto my house and shaking it, from side to side.”
Wayne Lundell, 71, was in bed at home, about a mile north of Boulder Creek, listening to the radio when Thursday morning’s earthquake hit.
“There was a bang at first, and then the earthquake hit,” he said. “It was so strong, the house was shaking, twisting around. You could see the waves of the earthquake roaring, going through everything.”
He said stacks of boxes toppled over in the hallway, bookshelves fell to the ground, drawers and cabinets spilled their contents, the bathroom medicine cabinet opened and its items filled up the sink. A mirror fell and shattered.
“If you were trying to walk, you couldn’t walk, it would have thrown me to the ground,” he said. “That’s how strong it was.”
His brother Allan Lundell, 73, and his wife, Marian Lundell, 65, who also live at the Boulder Creek home, happened to be staying at another family home in Aptos. Later on Thursday afternoon, they drove up to see the mess.
“It really is a test of your preparedness,” Marian said. “We live in earthquake country, and we get complacent because time goes by. Just don’t take it for granted.”
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