Earthquake Story

Who: People at McHenry's Auto Supply
What: Earthquake hit, people were killed
Where: San Francisco Bay
When: 8:12 am
Why: The building collapsed
How: The quake broke down the building enough to let it collapse

   Being woken up by screams and a big jolt caused by an earthquake probably isn’t the best way to be woken up at 8:12 in the morning at San Francisco Bay. Not only were people woken up, but 2 people were killed and 6 were seriously injured in the forcefully collapsed building of McHenry’s Auto Supply caused by the quake.

  Hayward firefighters went to the auto shop and used ropes to stabilize the building long enough to conduct a search for the gas leak.

   “The epicenter of the earthquake, which has a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richer scale, was under Hayward Hills,” U.S. Geological scientist Penny Gertz said. “The quake was a strong one [and] it occurred on the Hayward Fault, which runs under the hill.”

   Not only having the firefighters respond meant more people were safe and less could potentially be injured.

   “Twenty-one fire personnel, 12 police and five American Red Cross workers responded to the building collapse, with some arrive within four minutes of the quake,” public information officer from Hayward Fire Department Jennifer Vu said.

   Out of the six people who were injured, only three needed to be hospitialized at the Hayward General Hosptial.

   “People as far south as Los Angeles and far north as Redding felt the quake,” Gertz said.

   The families of those who died in the quake are being informed of their passing.

   “Names of the dead are being withheld pending notifications of families,” Vu said.

  Some people, like Hayward resident Mike Beamer, only felt the jolt and the 30 seconds of rumbling.

   “I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling,” Beamer said. “ I dove under the table just as I heard an explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew my window. That’s when the screaming start[ed] across the street.”