The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Had a pretty good shaker about 15 minutes ago. They say it was a 4.4 between San Jose and Morgan Hill. I didn't feel it in Santa Clara, but my boss did. Diana said it shook pretty good for about 10 seconds down in Scotts Valley. I bet the dog is going nuts!

Stretch

I checked out the location of the quake on Google Earth and it was about 1/2 mile from my family's house and land that they homesteaded in the mid-1860's. Not far from the junction of Metcalf and San Felipe roads.

They say it was on a previously unknown sub-fault of the Calaveras fault.
Makes me wonder if it was "known" by my family...


Buzz

Hey Buzz,
Depending on how long they were there I'd bet they "knew" about the fault. What I bet they didn't know was how much that land would be worth by the 1990's.

Stretch

Well, it turned out to be worth a LOT to them anyway, as after they homesteaded the land in 1865, they ended up paying for it twice in subsequent years!

The land around the Bay Area, before CA was a US State, used to be under the control of Spain, with much of the land granted to individuals as gifts for their service to the Spanish Crown. On two separate occasions, Spaniards appeared before the local magistrates in Santa Clara County and were able to prove that they were the rightful owners of the land. Both times, in order to keep the property (320 acres) the family had to pay off the claimant.

The family maintained the ranch up through the mid-1960's, and as far as I know the ranch house is still standing.