A powerful earthquake rocked California’s central coast yesterday, sparking fires, crumbling buildings and killing at least two people near its epicenter in San Simeon.
The 6.5-magnitude temblor struck at 11:16 a.m. California time and lasted about 30 seconds, swaying buildings all the way from Los Angeles north to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Hardest hit by the powerful jolt was the tiny, sparsely populated town of Paso Robles, about 30 miles east of the epicenter, where the roof of the landmark Clock Tower Building was hurled into the street, crushing parked cars and killing two women, ages 19 and 55.
The roof of the two-story building “basically jumped onto the street and landed on cars with people in them,” said a man who fled to safety from the 111-year-old structure. The cars were “crushed like little toys, nothing left,” he said.
About 25 people injured by falling debris were being treated at an area hospital.
Rescue workers were digging furiously in search of others feared trapped in the rubble along a block-long stretch of crumbled buildings.
As firemen struggled to cap several gas leaks, the town declared a state of emergency and the American Red Cross set up a shelter for those displaced by the quake.
With the nation on Orange Alert, many initially feared they were victims of a terrorist strike. “The first thing I thought was this is a terror attack or a big explosion,” Paso Robles thrift-shop worker Marcia Colbert told KTLA-Channel 5 in L.A.
In San Luis Obispo, 42 miles from San Simeon, electric service was knocked out, and several workers in a winery were injured by falling barrels.
At least 50 aftershocks were felt after the main jolt, and officials warned that there could be as many as 200 more over the next seven days.
“At this time, the probability of a strong and possibly damaging aftershock in the next seven days is greater than 90 percent,” the U.S. Geological Survey warned.
It added that there is a 5 to 10 percent chance of “an earthquake equal to or larger than the main shock in the next seven days.”
Park rangers at San Simeon ordered the evacuation of the Hearst Castle, the palatial home built by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.
The castle – now a state park – attracts hordes of tourists this time of the year because of the elaborate Hearst family Christmas ornaments.
In San Francisco, 165 miles north of the epicenter, the quake rocked the federal courthouse and sent its upper stories swaying. In downtown Los Angeles, 185 miles to the southeast, people felt a sustained rolling motion.
The Geological Survey said the quake ran along a series of uncharted faults that are parallel to the San Andreas Fault.
It was the most powerful quake to strike California since a 7.1 temblor rocked the desert near Joshua Tree in 1999. No one was killed in that earthquake.
With Post Wire Services
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STATE OF SHOCK
Largest earthquakes in California during the past half century:
1. Magnitude 7.5, Kern County, July 21, 1952
2. Magnitude 7.3, Southern California desert, June 28, 1992
3. Magnitude 7.1, Hector Mine, Oct. 16, 1999
4. Magnitude 7.0, San Francisco Bay area, Oct. 17, 1989
5. Magnitude 6.7, Northridge, Jan. 17, 1994
6. Magnitude 6.6, Sylmar, Feb. 9, 1971
7. Magnitude 6.5, Cambria, Dec. 22, 2003
Source: AP; U.S. Geological Survey