San Francisco - Windows and nerves cracked during a rolling earthquake centred along the coast north of San Francisco on Tuesday.
No injuries or serious damage were reported in the aftermath of the tremor which set the ground shaking.
Seismic experts at the University of California, Berkeley and the US Geological Survey office estimated the earthquake at 5.0 on the Richter scale and said it was centred along the San Andreas Fault at the town of Bolinas.
The last significant shifting of the San Andreas resulted in the 1906 earthquake that devastated the city.
That earthquake was also centred near Bolinas.
The quake lasted about 15 seconds and was felt in San Francisco, East Bay communities such as Berkeley and Oakland, and on to San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley.