A 4.6 earthquake jolts Northern California awake and residents report shaking homes for miles
Apr 2, 2026, 4:33 AM | Updated: 5:26 am
BOULDER CREEK, Calif. (AP) — An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 in Northern California awakened residents with a jolt early Thursday, with many saying they felt their homes shake for a few seconds in a 100-mile (161-kilometer) stretch, including San Francisco.
The earthquake was centered a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It happened at about 1:40 a.m.
There were no immediate reports of serious damage.
Boulder Creek, which has about 5,000 people, is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. Residents as far north as Petaluma, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of San Francisco, also said they felt it.
Some residents said they were first awakened by earthquake alerts on their phone, then felt their beds and windows shake.
In February, a series of small earthquakes rattled the San Francisco Bay Area. The most powerful quake was a magnitude 4.2 that struck south of San Ramon, according to the USGS.
At least a dozen other smaller quakes struck in the same area.
The area east of San Francisco has experienced earthquake swarms — when multiple small magnitude earthquakes strike over a short period of time — for decades, according to seismology experts.
