7.0 Earthquake on Northern California Coast...Tsunami Warning Issued and Later Lifted

[Image source=US Geological Survey website]

On the 5th (local time), a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred off the northern coast of California, USA.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS) and others, at 10:44 a.m. that day, an earthquake with a focal depth of about 10 km occurred off the coast about 63 km west of Ferndale, a small town in Humboldt County, northern California. The earthquake was felt as far south as San Francisco, with shaking reported in some areas. Several smaller aftershocks followed.

After the earthquake, more than 5.4 million residents living in northern California, including San Francisco and San Jose, as well as Oregon, received a tsunami warning. All directional traffic on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, which operates between San Francisco and Oakland, was suspended.

The US National Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert, warning of the possibility of a tsunami caused by the earthquake and advising residents to stay away from the coast. The center warned, "Tsunamis may occur along coasts within 300 km of the earthquake epicenter." The warning center urged residents living along the northern California coastline, including the San Francisco Bay Area, to move inland.

However, about an hour after the earthquake, the warning center lifted the tsunami warning, stating, "No destructive tsunami has been recorded." Some households experienced power outages due to the earthquake. According to the US Power Outage Map, power supply was cut off to approximately 19,009 households in Humboldt County following the earthquake.

The California region experiences earthquakes of various magnitudes every year. In September, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred 3.2 km northwest inland from Aromas, near Monterey County, 151 km south of San Francisco. In February, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Malibu, a city in southern California, and in October 2022, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred 14 km east of Seven Trees near San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley.

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