SAN FRANCISCO — The start of Super Bowl week came with an unexpected surprise on Monday morning when an earthquake hit the Bay Area. The 4.2-magnitude quake had an epicenter just south of San Ramon, California, according to the United State Geological Survey.
The earthquake was strong enough that it was felt throughout the Bay Area from Oakland to San Francisco all the way down to Santa Clara, which is where Super Bowl LX will be played Feb. 8. When you put a big event in the Bay Area, there’s always a chance that it could be hit by an earthquake and that’s exactly what happened here.
The 4.2 earthquake hit at 7:01 a.m. PT and it was a part of a string of earthquakes that hit during a roughly 30-minute span on Monday. The first earthquake, which came in at a 3.8, hit San Ramon around 6:27 a.m. PT. Two minutes later, the same area was hit by a 3.3 earthquake. That quake was followed by a swarm of 20 smaller earthquakes, according to the USGS.
The quakes were big enough that the Bay Area’s train system (BART) had to start running its trains at reduced speeds so that BART employees could conduct inspections of the tracks.
It’s not clear if the Seahawks and Patriots felt any of the jolts that rocked the Bay Area on Monday morning, but many around them did.
Both teams arrived in the Bay Area on Sunday, but they’re not staying in San Francisco. The Patriots are staying in a hotel in Santa Clara while the Seahawks are staying at a hotel in San Jose. Both hotels are located about 35 miles from the epicenter of the biggest earthquake that hit, so it’s certainly possible that the players could have felt something. There’s a good chance that they’ll be asked about it at Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday.
With so many earthquakes hitting the Bay Area, it will be certainly interesting to see if we get one on Super Bowl Sunday. The Bay Area was hit by a 6.0 earthquake in 2014, just hours before the 49ers were getting set to host a preseason game at Levi’s Stadium and despite the monstrous jolt, the game was still played. Due to the location of Levi’s Stadium, it would likely take a gigantic earthquake on game day for the NFL to even think about postponing the Super Bowl.
Of course, that’s exactly what happened in 1989. You can’t bring up an earthquake in the Bay Area without at least mentioning the Loma Prieta earthquake that hit during the 1989 World Series. While the A’s and San Francisco Giants were preparing for Game 3, a devastating 6.9 earthquake hit the Bay Area, which caused the World Series to be postponed for 10 days.
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