San Jose, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Thousands of Bay Area residents were awakened by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake at a little past 3 a.m. today. The quake was centered near American Canyon and was felt all the way from Napa Valley to South San Jose.

It turns out that the quake was a test. Only a test. It was a test of the structural integrity of the new span of the Bay Bridge which, months before it opened, was dodged with controversy and problems with faulty bolts. Many critics had questioned whether the  bridge would survive a strong earthquake. As of press time, it wasn’t clear who initiated the test.

But the other test was obviously initiated by the giant social media company based in Menlo Park – Facebook. It was a test of the new Emergency Facebook System designed to replace the aging Emergency Broadcast System. From all indications, the test was very successful, with Facebook friends alerting each other about the shaker, long before it was reported by radio and television stations.

Facebook is also reportedly working on a new app that would detect and measure the intensity of earthquakes. This may put personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) out of their jobs and they’re shaking and very nervous.