Earthquake Story

An earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay area on Monday morning at 8:12. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale.

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

A building housing McHenry’s Auto Supply at 2342 Plum St. partially collapsed, killing two people and injuring six others.

“Three of the Six injured people from the collapsed building had to be hospitalized, including a five month old baby,” Public Information officer from the Hayward Fire Department, Jennifer Vu said.

The names of the deceased have not been released to the public as of yet.

“We know the identities of two of the deceased but one was a client of the Auto Supply whom we don’t know the identity of yet,” Vu said.

Hayward firefighters used ropes to stabilize the auto supply shop and conducted a search of the building and capped a gas line after detecting a gas leak at the site.

“The destruction of the building could have been worse if the building caught fire from the gas leak,” Vu said. “There could have been an explosion.” 

Help arrived to McHenry’s Auto Supply within four minutes of the Earthquake. 

"21 fire personnel, 12 police and 5 American Red Cross workers responded to the building collapse,” Vu said.

The epicenter of the Earthquake was under Hayward Hills. It occurred on the Hayward Fault, which runs under the hills.

“ The Earthquake was a strong one and we are expecting aftershocks so I recommend everyone stay indoors in a secure location,” Gertz said. “ This is a residential area so keep your families safe.”

Hayward resident Mike Beamer, whose apartment is across the street from McHenry’s, said he felt a rolling motion that lasted for about 30 seconds, with a big jolt coming in the middle. 

“I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling. I dove under the table just as I heard an explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew through my kitchen window,” Beamer said.