U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, the Napa Democrat who represents Benicia in the House, said $2 million in federal emergency relief funds would help cover the cost to repair area infrastructure damaged by Sunday’s magnitude 6.0 earthquake.
He said the money is coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, and would go to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and local agencies.
“This earthquake severely damaged a lot of our infrastructure, and these funds will go a long way toward helping our community recover,” Thompson said Monday.
“I will continue working with the DOT and all federal agencies to make sure our district gets the emergency resources we need to rebuild and recover,” he said.
Caltrans has identified preliminary damage totaling at least $10 million to bridges and roadways it can associate with Sunday’s temblor.
The earthquake caused widespread surface cracking on roadways, such as California State Road 121 north of the Sonoma-Napa County line at Cuttings Wharf, Thompson said.
Caltrans also has found significant stress to joints on several bridges, including the Napa River Bridge on State Road 29.
The bridges are safe and open to traffic, Thompson said. The state’s primary focus is determining whether bridge joints should be repaired or replaced, he explained.
The earthquake struck Napa and Solano counties about 3:20 a.m. Sunday, though the tremors were felt throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, according to witness accounts.
The U.S. Geological Survey has identified the epicenter as 3 miles from American Canyon, 6 miles from Napa and 8 miles from Sonoma.
The earthquake was the largest to hit the Bay Area in 25 years. Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for affected areas of California.