2014 South Napa earthquake location. At least twelve aftershocks followed, including one of magnitude 3.9. The earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Bay Area since the magnitude 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency due to the severe damage and the possibility of aftershocks. President Obama declared a major disaster for Napa and Solano counties. Several older commercial buildings in downtown Napa showed signs of extensive external damage even though many had been retrofitted for earthquake safety protection. The Goodman Library, Napa County Courthouse Plaza, Sam Kee Laundry Building, Downtown U.S. Post Office, Alexandria Hotel and Annex,
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake included ground floor garages, which engineers refer to as a soft story building. In Santa Cruz, the Pacific Garden Mall was severely damaged, with falling debris killing three people, half of the six earthquake deaths in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Some 31 buildings were damaged enough to warrant demolition, seven of which had been listed in the Santa Cruz Historic Building Survey. The four oldest were built in 1894, the five oldest withstood the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Immediately, a number of civilians began to free victims from the rubble of Ford's Department Store and the Santa Cruz Coffee