On Sunday, August 24th, in the dead of the night, the strongest earthquake in 25 years struck the city of Napa, California’s famous wine country, impacting all the residents. With a magnitude of 6.1, the earthquake caused severe damage to historic buildings and destroyed homes. Cost to repair all the damage will be about one billion. According to CNN, more than 15,000 people experienced severe shaking and over 738,000 people experienced moderate shaking. There were no casualties, but over 200 people were injured during the earthquake.

Unfortunately, another downside to an earthquake this strong is the frequent, aftermath quakes that occur after a major shake. More earthquakes with a relatively lower magnitude, but still causing damage, hit the same area. Within ten days of the 6.1 quake, over 6 more earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater affected the Bay. The Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund has donated 10 million to help residents. Since Napa is the wine city of California, over 100 wineries have reported damage. The LA Times states that hundreds of thousands of dollars of wine were spilt, and now, wineries are in need of temporary tank space. Hopefully, everything will be recovered before the fall harvest.

Mr. Titmus, a Christ Church teacher who has lived in California and is also an expert on earthquakes says, “California is located on the San Andreas fault; therefore earthquakes are extremely common. Since they are so frequent, the people are prepared and are ready for the aftermath,” Although this disaster brought many cons to the city, the support of the country will help Napa through this tough time.