The focal depth was placed at 5.8 km beneath the surface and the fault plane solution indicated predominantly strike-slip motion along a northwest trending fault plane. The quake was centered about 3 miles southeast of Richmond and 4 miles northwest of Berkeley in El Cerrito, along the northern branch of the Hayward fault. It was followed by a small M1.7 tremor 15 minutes later. Seismo-Watch received several reports from people in the East Bay being jarred from sleep by the quake. Felt reports have also come in from as far away as San Francisco and Concord.
Light items toppled from tables and shelves and there are some news of some commercial damage.
The quake was not strong enough to cause any structural damage. The strongest earthquake along the entire length of the Hayward fault since the 1960's measured M4.3 and was centered near Hayward on March 27, 1983. In 1868, a strong earthquake registering M6.8 ruptured the southern branch of the Hayward fault from about San Leandro to south of Fremont, causing widespread damage throughout the Bay Area. Until the Great 1906 earthquake, it was referred to as the Great San Francisco earthquake. Sketchy reports of a similar magnitude event as the 1868 temblor along the northern Hayward fault in 1836 have proved to be false.