CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : NORTHERN CALIFORNIA : 4.4 Aftershock Rattles Bay Area

An aftershock of the devastating Oct. 17 earthquake jolted Northern California from San Francisco Bay to Watsonville. The magnitude 4.4 aftershock was felt in San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Watsonville. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. “It rattled pretty good at first and then kept on kind of rolling. You could feel the foundation swaying,” said Watsonville resident Ani LeRitz-Murphy. “It’s been the second longest one we’ve had since the big quake.” The aftershock at 9:50 p.m. Wednesday was centered slightly north of the epicenter of the magnitude 7.1 main temblor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park. Of the thousands of aftershocks, 84 have measured at least magnitude 3.0, and 21 registered magnitude 4.0 or greater. The strongest was 5.2, just 37 minutes after the initial jolt.