6.0 quake rocks California followed by more than 60 aftershocks. Jolt felt in Bay Area

A 6.0 quake followed by more than 60 aftershocks — including a 5.2 shaker — struck Thursday afternoon in California, close to the Nevada border but was felt in the Bay Area.

The first quake hit at 3:49 p.m., registering a magnitude 6.0 in Coleville (Mono County), followed by a 5.2 shaker in the same location a minute later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Those two quakes were followed by a series of more than 60 temblors ranging from magnitude 1.0 to 4.6 that hit Coleville and surrounding areas of Dardanelle (Tuolumne County), Walker (Mono County), Markleeville (Alpine County), and the Yosemite Valley.

There were no reports of injuries or major damage to infrastructure in the region, said California Office of Emergency Services spokesperson Brian Ferguson.

“We’re gonna keep looking through the night to see what, if anything, emerges as we learn more about this,” Ferguson said, adding that local homeowners and business owners who inspect their properties may report the damage on Friday morning. “If we get out of this earthquake with just it being a reminder for people to be prepared, then we think that’s a positive.”

People reported feeling the quake from the Bay Area to Redding to Visalia into Nevada, and the state’s ShakeAlert warning system activated in Sacramento 23 seconds before the shaking started, warning of a 4.8 quake or greater. In Reno, the ShakeAlert system gave people a seven-minute warning.

Among the aftershocks, at least eight exceeded magnitude 4.0.

The U.S. Geological Survey said it expects more aftershocks to continue around the area of the 6.0 main quake, and officials said the temblor could be part of a sequence that could have even larger shakers.

Seismologists were forecasting that over the next week, there is a 6% chance of an aftershock larger than magnitude 6.0.

The area east of the Sierra Nevada is a very active earthquake zone, owing to its position on the North American tectonic plate, said Sarah Minson, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The California-Nevada border region is being “pulled like taffy” as California inches west toward the Pacific Ocean, Minton said, which gives the area its distinctively hilly topography and makes it highly prone to earthquakes and aftershocks.

The USGS initially reported that a 4.8 quake had struck east of Stockton in San Joaquin County but then removed the quake from its list. The 6.0 quake was initially registered at 6.2, downgraded to 5.9, and then adjusted to 6.0 after reviews by seismologists.