NAPA, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on Sunday after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck this area in the early morning. Thousands remained without power here as emergency workers scrambled to put out fires and treat injured residents.
Even as the shaking continued late Sunday morning — at least four smaller aftershocks were reported Sunday — emergency crews were combing through buildings in downtown Napa that had partly collapsed during the temblor, searching for anyone who might be trapped inside.
At least 90 people had been treated at the emergency room of Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, according to Vanessa DeGier, a spokeswoman for the hospital. Most of the injuries were minor cuts or abrasions caused by falling debris. But three patients were in critical condition, including a child who had been crushed by a falling fireplace.
“Right now it’s really about being able to get the fires out, making sure that anyone who could potentially be trapped in buildings gets rescued and evacuated,” said Mike Ghilarducci, the secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency. “”There’s going to be a number of aftershocks afterwards, so people need to be prepared for that.”
The temblor struck about six miles south of Napa around 3:20 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the Bay Area since the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, which collapsed the Bay Bridge. The shaking was felt over an area that encompassed hundreds of miles.
The earthquake threw much of the Napa Valley — an edenic retreat famed for its wine and fine dining — into chaos of falling glass and collapsing bricks. Dozens of water and gas mains were ruptured, and at least six fires broke out, including one in a mobile home park that destroyed four homes and damaged two others.
Two residents of the mobile home park, Lynda and Bob Castell-Blanch, both 60, said they were jarred awake by a loud thump and roll.
“It was violent,” Mr. Castell-Blanch said. “Things were flying all over the place. There was a woman screaming from one of the houses, so loud it was total mayhem.”
The couple said they had enough time to gather their cats and his vintage guitars before evacuating. “That was all we had time for,” Mr. Castell-Blanch said, as they tried to buy water at a store near the mobile home park.
The shelves at the store, the Ranch Market, had been emptied into the aisles. The smell of wine wafted throughout.
Arik Housley, the store’s owner, estimated the damage to be at least $100,000 at the two markets he owns in the area. He said that, like many people, he did not carry earthquake insurance because of the high premiums.
Franz Oehler, 44, who lives west of downtown Napa, said: “It was about 10 seconds of total chaos. My girlfriend and I were thrown up in the air, and the window exploded.”
His house, he said, worth about $5 million, was cracked and in danger of sliding down the hill.
More than 25,000 people remained without power Sunday, though many more had had electricity restored. Dozens of gas and water mains were also ruptured.
Janet Upton said the chimneys of several homes in her Napa neighborhood were knocked off, while the front of another home had sheared off. The entire area smelled strongly of gas, she said. The sound of sirens continued unabated for two hours after the earthquake, she added, but it had since quieted down.
“We helped all neighbors turn their gas off,” said Ms. Upton, who is a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Her husband is Scott Upton, the Napa County fire chief. “I’m just grateful my family and neighbors are all O.K.”
Buildings across the city were damaged, including the county courthouse, a historic building. Though many of the city’s buildings had been retrofitted to withstand earthquakes over the past several years, not all of the old masonry buildings had been reinforced, and those that had not suffered the most, according to city officials here. Fallen bricks covered the sidewalk.
Most of the historic downtown Napa buildings with visible damage had been empty at the time of the earthquake. Emergency crews were searching them for any janitorial or security workers who may have been on site, and roping off the areas to keep the public away from any more falling concrete.
“We’ve tried our best to close down downtown and those areas of buildings that are obviously damaged,” said John Callanan, chief of operations for the Napa Fire Department. “”Please stay away from the buildings that look like they’re leaning.”
Nick Brennan, manager of Clark’s Shoes outlet, was standing amid 8,000 pairs of shoes on the ground, and soaked by water flowing from a broken main.
“Clearly we didn’t win,” he said. “It’s over, we clean up, we try to build it a little stronger.”
NYTimes.
