The ground under San Ramon has not stayed still for long, and the people who live there have run out of patience waiting to feel safer.
A magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck near San Ramon at 11:21 p.m. Sunday, March 1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremor’s epicenter was located roughly 2 miles southeast of the city at a depth of approximately 5 miles. No injuries were reported. It was, by now, a familiar experience for San Ramon residents, who have lived through multiple strings of seismic activity over the past several months, including a magnitude 2.6 quake near Milpitas just days earlier.
The latest tremor followed a community town hall on Friday that drew hundreds of residents who arrived with one central question on their minds: what happens next, and what can we do about it?
What experts told a room full of worried residents
The town hall produced one answer that nobody wanted to hear but everyone needed to understand. Dr. Angie Lux from the Berkeley Seismology Lab told attendees plainly that there is no way to determine when or where a major earthquake will occur. The tools that exist can measure what has already happened and track patterns over time, but they cannot produce a reliable warning for what is coming. That message landed hard in a room full of people who had been hoping for something more reassuring…