Tonight on “Slow News Night” – a 3.1 earthquake shook the Bay Area in Northern California, sending upwards of a dozen plates to a well varnished floor and causing possibly upwards of $46 worth of damage to the area. The minor quake struck an area two miles northeast of Berkley, CA, with an epicenter of 4.6 miles deep – meaning that it was not felt far, or wide. Shocking!
At around 9:26pm PST, users on Twitter reported a quake. The United States Geological Survey – a service of the United States government that had coincidentally been funded until very recently by the government shutdown – reported this to say about it: “Due to a lapse in Federal funding, the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program has suspended most of its operations. While the USGS will continue to monitor and report on earthquake activity, the accuracy or timeliness of some earthquake information products, as well as the availability or functionality of some web pages, could be affected by our reduced level of operation.”
The California region is reportedly due for a megaquake in the next fifty or so years.
(Image: HuffPo)