Benicians got the same 6:49 a.m. wake up call other San Francisco Bay Area residents did Monday when a magnitude-4.0 earthquake centered in Piedmont made the ground shudder.

But city officials said they received no reports of damage from the temblor.

On the other hand, smoke blowing into the area from several Northern California wildfires has been making Benicia’s air “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) told Christina Ratcliffe, director of the Community Development Department.

The Air District issued a Spare the Air Alert Monday but depending on wind conditions and gradually dropping temperatures may not issue one Tuesday, Ratcliffe said.

Smoke has blown south to Solano County and other Bay Area counties from Lake County, scene of the 25,000-acre Jerusalem Fire, and from Sacramento County, where the massive Rocky Fire covered nearly 70,000 acres before being contained.

“The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) recommends that active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit outdoor exertion,” Ratcliffe said.
Conditions should improve later in the week, according to the Air District’s five-day forecast.

Those interested can check www.baaqmd.gov or www.sparetheair.org.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Monday’s earthquake on the Hayward fault was about 3.1 miles deep, and its epicenter was about three miles from Berkeley, near the connection between California Highways 24 and 13. Several aftershocks were recorded later Monday.

Both Ratcliffe and Rick Knight, Benicia superintendent and project manager, said neither had received reports of either public or private property damage from the quake.

Ratcliffe supplied an advisory for residents should they experience a larger quake, such as the one centered in Napa in August 2014 that caused extensive damage in that county and in Vallejo.

Her advisory said residents should check themselves for injuries before tending to others after a quake, and should dress for the job, with long pants, long-sleeved shirts, sturdy shoes and work gloves. They should call 9-1-1 to report injuries before giving first aid, and shouldn’t try to move seriously injured people unless they are in immediate danger of further injury.

Residents should watch for fires and extinguish small ones to prevent them from spreading. Any flammables, medicines, bleaches and fuels should be cleaned up quickly to avoid a chemical emergency.

Contents of closets and cabinets may have shifted in the quake, and they should be opened with caution. Also, people should watch for fallen power lines and stay out of damaged areas.

Residents should check their homes, including chimneys, for damage. Cracked chimneys can lead to fires later.

If anyone smells gas or hears a blowing or hissing noise, the person should open a window then leave the building, and if possible turn off the gas at the outside main valve.

Unless someone smells gas or thinks it is leaking, a person can leave the gas on at the main valve. In fact, explosions have injured and killed people when homeowners improperly turn off and on their gas, and it could take weeks or months before professionals can turn gas back on using correct procedures, according to the advisory.

Residents should check for sewage and water line damage, and call a plumber in those cases. If water pipes are damaged, people should avoid drinking tap water and instead obtain water from undamaged water heaters or by melting ice cubes.

All should leave if a home is unsafe, because aftershocks can damage unstable buildings. Residents should expect those aftershocks, which can come minutes to months after an initial quake. Damaged buildings should be re-entered only when authorities say they are safe.

Neighbors may need help, especially if they are elderly or have disabilities, the advisory noted.

Portable, battery-operated radios or televisions can provide residents with updated emergency information and instructions, even if the electricity is out.

Telephones should be used only for reporting life-threatening emergencies, since phone lines often get overwhelmed during disasters.

Pet behavior can change in such calamities, and pet owners should watch their animals closely, leashing their dogs and putting them in a fenced yard, according to the advisory.