- The earthquake was strongest in a sparsely populated area near San Jose, California.

Location of the magnitude 5.1 earthquake recorded east of Seven Trees, California. / Google Maps

The San Francisco Bay, shaken by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake

An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale shook the San Francisco Bay area in California (USA) on Tuesday, with no casualties or damage reported, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS, in English).

The shaking occurred at 11:42 a.m. (9:42 p.m. Spanish peninsular time), just east of Seven Trees, an area of ​​Joseph D. Grant Park, near the city of San José. The most intense of the tremor was felt in a sparsely populated area.

An aftershock of 3.1 was felt at 11:47 (21:47 Spanish peninsular time) according to the USGS.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was felt as far south as Salinas and Monterey, agricultural areas of Merced, and as far north as San Rafael, north of San Francisco.

The agency estimated that the shaking was moderate at the epicenter and that major damage was unlikely.

An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 5.0 and 6.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent sample of three years of data.