Earthquake story

   A fatal 6.4 earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay area yesterday morning, leaving two dead and six injured in a building collapse.

  At 8:12 am PDT, residents began to feel the quake that collapsed McHenry's Auto Supply on 2342 Plum St."I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling," Hayward resident Mike Beamer, who lives across from McHenry's, said. He describes feeling a consistent rolling motion that lasted for about 30 seconds, with a "big jolt" in the middle. "I dove under the table just as I heard an explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew through my kitchen window. That's when the screaming started across the street."

     While a large group of Hayward police and American Red Cross workers responded to the incident, firefighters used ropes to stabilize the shop and search the building. Three of the six injured were transported to the hospital for their injuries within four minutes of the incident. The other three suffered minor injuries. During their search of the premises firefighters capped a gas leak caused by the quake.

The names of the dead are being withheld pending notifications of families, according to Jennifer Vu, a public information officer from the Hayward Fire Department. According to Vu there have been no other serious injuries reported in the Hayward area.

  Penny Gertz, a scientist from the US Geological Survey, stated that the epicenter of the earthquake was located on the Hayward Fault, which runs under the Hayward Hills. Its measure of 6.4 on the Richter scale was described as "a strong one" by Gertz. "People as far south as Los Angeles and as far north as Redding felt it."