California Braces for Aftershocks

Residents of Northern California are today bracing for aftershocks after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 hit California’s northern Bay Area early Sunday morning. State Geologist John Parrish said the shocks would decrease in magnitude and it was unlikely that there would be a large followup earthquake, but warned people to be careful because buildings that were damaged by the quake were now more susceptible to collapse. The tremor was the largest earthquake to hit the area since 1989’s 6.9 Loma Prieta quake. Some 172 people were injured and two of them, including a 13-year-old boy, remain in critical condition. As a result of the quake, Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency.