2007 Alum Rock earthquake 2007 Alum Rock earthquake The 2007 Alum Rock earthquake occurred on in Alum Rock Park in San Jose, California. It measured 5.6 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI ("Strong"). The event was then the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, but was later surpassed by the 2014 South Napa earthquake. Ground shaking from the Alum Rock quake reached San Francisco and Oakland and other points further north. Sixty thousand felt reports existed far beyond Santa Rosa, as far
Loma Prieta Loma Prieta Loma Prieta (from Spanish "loma" -hill, "prieta" -dark) is high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. The peak is on private property about west of Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County. The dirt road to the summit is gated, but the tower maintainers generally do not mind hikers. From 1976 through 1990 amateur astronomer Donald Machholz set up his telescope an average of 120 times a year on the south slope of this mountain to search for comets. From this site he discovered three new comets that bear his name, including