An "awesome" aftershock to last month's deadly earthquake jolted northern California, but the only harm appeared to be more jangled nerves, authorities said Thursday.
The aftershock, which struck at 9:50 p.m. Wednesday and measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, was centered slightly north of the epicenter of the Oct. 17 main shock, said Pat Jorgenson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.It was the 84th aftershock of at least magnitude 3 and the 21st of 4 or greater since Oct. 17. The largest aftershock was magnitude 5.2 and hit 37 minutes after the Oct. 17 quake, which measured 7.1 on the Richter scale.
"Awesome," said Santa Cruz County sheriff's dispatcher Kevin Fink of Wednesday's jolt. "We were sweating bullets for a few seconds."
No damage was reported in Santa Cruz or Watsonville - the region of the epicenter - and only minor damage was reported in San Francisco's Marina District, which was devastated last month.
"Just bricks falling," said Officer Gordon Clark. "People have been calling in sheer panic saying, `The big one is on the way.' We try to console them and tell them it's an aftershock."
The California Legislature was scheduled to begin a special session in Sacramento Thursday to decide whether to increase the state sales tax by one-quarter cent for 13 months to pay quake costs. Gov. George Deukmejian and the Legislature's top four leaders of both parties have agreed on the plan, which would raise $800 million. The current sales tax is 6 percent.
Two of the quake's littlest victims, Julio Berumen, 6, and his sister Cathy, 8, remained in Oakland's Childrens Hospital, recovering from their ordeal in the collapse of double-deck Interstate 880. Buck Helm, rescued after four days in the I-880 rubble, also remained hospitalized.