At 8:12 a.m. on Monday morning, an earthquake occurred in the San Francisco Bay area killing two people and injuring six others after a building partially collapsed.
The earthquake that happened that morning was very powerful and destructive, damaging an auto supply shop and causing two people to lose their lives.
"People as far as south Los Angeles and as far as north Redding felt the quake," scientist Penny Gertz stated.
Six people were injured, but only half of them needed medical attention.
"Three of the six people injured were hurt seriously enough to require hospitalization and were transported to Hayward General Hospital," according to public information officer Jennifer Vu.
Mike Beamer, a resident of the apartments across from the shop, witnessed the destruction of the building.
"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. That’s when the screaming started across the street," Beamer recalled.
There were many first responders who came quickly to aid during this devastating event.
"Twenty-one fire personnel, 12 police and five American Red Cross workers responded to the building collapse, with some arriving within four minutes of the quake," Vu said.
This earthquake was massive and very forceful, reaching a high magnitude on the Richter scale.
"The epicenter of the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale, was under the Hayward Hills," said Gertz.
McHenry’s Auto Supply almost collapsed completely, but luckily Hayward firefighters used ropes to stabilize the auto supply shop before is was all destroyed.
"The quake was a strong one," Gertz added.
The families of the victims are being told what happened.
"Names of the dead are being withheld pending notifications of families," Vu notified.
No other serious injuries have been reported in Hayward.
