Santa Clara County rattled by 13 earthquakes in seven days

April 7, 2012 – CALIFORNIA – Thirteen earthquakes, averaging a magnitude of 1.9 on the Richter scale, struck Santa Clara County this week. The largest quake, with a magnitude of 2.9, occurred just nine miles north of Morgan Hill at 2:42 a.m. Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website. Three tremors rocked the county on Friday alone, with a 1.8 magnitude quake striking three miles south of Los Altos and 20 minutes from Campbell at 5:11 p.m. A slightly smaller quake, registering at 1.5, hit three miles from Los Altos the day before at 11:59 a.m. Multiple tremors shook the South County area, especially in Gilroy and Morgan Hill. In Gilroy, a 1.8 magnitude quake hit four miles south of the Garlic Capital at 4:08 p.m. Thursday, and three more hit Gilroy Wednesday. The first struck a few miles from Gilroy at 2:29 a.m. with a magnitude of 2.0. The second, a 1.2, hit three miles away at 4:28 p.m. and another 2.0 quake hit the Garlic City about 10 minutes later in the same area. On Tuesday, a 1.2 magnitude quake hit five miles from San Martin at 7:19 p.m., along with additional smaller quakes striking near the same area. To view the quakes that sent trembles through the county in the earlier portion of the week, view the UGSG earthquake list. –Gilroy Patch