Quake sends family scrambling

Nigel Weekes and his young family were woken up by the 6.0 earthquake in Napa Valley, California. Photo / Janna Dixon

Nigel Weekes and his wife Allyson each grabbed a child and ran for cover when the 6.0 magnitude Napa earthquake struck.

The veterinary consultant texted his Tauranga-based mother Carolyn Goodman first thing yesterday morning to let her know his family were safe.

"He let me know the New Zealand wines were still safe on the shelf for when I arrive on my visit next Friday."

The earthquake had not put Ms Goodman off her visit to California to see her son at the end of next week.

Mr Weekes said he and his wife were woken at about 3.20am Sunday local time by "tremendous shaking" in their home town of Sonoma, next to Napa, where they had lived for about four years.

"My wife screamed and we each grabbed one of our two children and ran downstairs. She ran outside with our oldest child, and some of our neighbours were outside, scared and alarmed.

"It felt like the house was going to crumble."

Mr Weekes said aftershocks were felt for a number of hours afterwards. "Our family set up blankets downstairs and we tried to get our 3-and-a-half year old and 1-year-old children back to sleep -- huddled all together. We were scared of the violent aftershocks."

Mr Weekes said his town experienced power outages and road closures. Grocery stores were closed due to damage from fallen stock and many of the schools would remain closed for another day.

The local government and community had rallied together to take care of one another "like they would back home" he said. "However, I would like to move to a one-storey house; being on the top level was crazy."

Three travel agencies spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times said they were yet to get any phone calls from concerned travellers heading to the area.

California's governor declared a state of emergency following the earthquake that seriously injured three people and ignited fires in the scenic Napa Valley wine region.

The US Geological Service said that the quake was the most powerful to hit the San Francisco Bay area since the 1989 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake.

Napa earthquake
Magnitude 6.0.

• Hit Napa about 3.20am Sunday local time.
• No deaths were reported but Napa city officials said three people suffered serious injuries.
• A child was critically injured by a fallen fireplace and flown to hospital for neurological care.
• It roused people from sleep as far away as San Francisco, and was felt as far east as Sacramento and as far south as Santa Cruz.

- APNZ