Earthquake San Francisco: What We Know About Thursday’s Quake and Aftershock
- Edited by: Sagar Kar
- Updated Aug 13, 2026, 22:53 IST
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck near San Leandro, California on Thursday morning, prompting BART to briefly halt and then slow its trains while crews inspected the tracks, though no damage was found.
Representative image.
Bay Area commuters got an unexpected jolt Thursday morning when a moderate earthquake struck near San Leandro, California, briefly disrupting BART service just as people were heading to work. The United States Geological Survey clocked the quake at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time, striking about two miles north of San Leandro. USGS first put the magnitude at 4.1, though that number was later adjusted down to 3.8 as more data came in.
Transit officials weren’t taking any chances. BART trains were held in place the moment the shaking hit, and once they got moving again, they ran noticeably slower than usual. Crews used the time to walk the tracks and check for any signs of damage. They didn’t find any.
Then Came the Aftershock
About 30 minutes after the initial quake, people across the Bay Area felt the ground move again, this time a smaller aftershock. That’s pretty typical after a quake like this one. Aftershocks happen when the earth settles along the same stretch of fault that slipped the first time around.
Don’t Expect It to Be Over
Here’s the thing about aftershocks: they don’t run on a schedule. Sometimes they hit within hours. Other times, they can keep popping up for weeks, months, or even years down the road. And occasionally, an aftershock actually turns out stronger than the original quake, which can be especially dangerous in spots that already took damage the first time.
Scientists aren’t done crunching the numbers either. USGS researchers are still combing through the data from Thursday’s quake, so the magnitude could shift again as they learn more. If new information comes in about how hard different areas shook, the agency’s shake severity maps could get updated too.
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Sagar is a journalist with an interest primarily in geopolitics and American domestic politics. Before joining Times Now, he wrote for Republic and Sw… View More
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world