Dozens of people were injured and many buildings extensively damaged in Napa, Calif., early Sunday in the largest earthquake to hit the Bay Area in 25 years, SFGate reports.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 3 miles northwest of the city of American Canyon at 3:20 a.m. While much of the destruction occurred in downtown Napa, shaking was felt in the state as far away as Chico (145 miles) and Fresno (197 miles).

The initial temblor was followed by several aftershocks, the largest of which was a magnitude 3.6 that struck 5 miles southwest of Napa at 5:47 a.m.

SFGate reported:

Napa Fire Department officials said 87 people had been injured and that three were in critical condition, including a child who was hurt by debris from a chimney. At least 70 of those hurt were at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, where numerous people were being treated for concussions, cuts and bruises.

Hospital officials set up a triage tent in the back parking lot of the emergency room. Ambulances were arriving every few minutes dropping off patients.

… A fire at a Napa mobile home park on Orchard Avenue destroyed four homes as firefighters improvised to put out the blaze, with a water main broken and unavailable.

Debris consisting of bricks, chunks of concrete and broken glass littered the streets of downtown Napa. Among the damaged buildings was the city’s Old County Courthouse. Residents and officials told reporters the toll would have been greater if the quake had struck Saturday, when thousands of people were downtown for the Napa Blues, Brews & BBQ event.

An offramp on a nearby highway was also said to have “buckled.” But the roads remain open, the paper reported.

Read more here.

Update: Two earthquakes, both above 6.0 in magnitude, jolted first Chile and then Peru this weekend. The temblor in Chile happened Saturday afternoon near the coastal city Valparaiso and registered at 6.4 on the Richter scale. It was originally reported at 6.6 but was later downgraded, as this Mashable article detailed on Sunday, after a magnitude 7.0 quake shook southern Peru.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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