Clean-up under way as California’s wine region is shaken awake by earthquake

The magnitude-6.0 quake struck early on Sunday near the city of Napa, an oasis of Victorian-era buildings nestled in the vineyard-studded hills of northern California.

Scores of people were injured as the tremor knocked out power to thousands, caused gas and water lines to rupture and sparked fires. By midday, the fires were out and power was starting to be restored, said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

“While it was bad, it wasn’t as bad as it could be and it was very manageable from a regional perspective,” he said.

The quake struck about six miles (10km) south of Napa and lasted 10 to 20 seconds depending on proximity to the epicentre, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was the largest to shake the San Francisco Bay Area since the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta quake struck in 1989, collapsing part of the Bay Bridge roadway and killing more than 60 people, most when an Oakland freeway fell.

This earthquake was felt widely throughout the region, with people reporting feeling it more than 200 miles (320km) south of Napa and as far east as the Nevada border.

Aftershocks are expected to continue for several weeks.