Officials across the continent’s West Coast are monitoring the effects of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit off the coast of northern California, briefly triggering a tsunami warning.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, the quake, initially measured at magnitude 7.3 but later revised down, struck 72 kilometres southwest of Eureka, Calif., at a depth of 12 kilometres.
In response, a tsunami warning was issued for the Douglas/Lane Line area of Oregon and Davenport, Calif.
That warning was called off soon afterwards by officials, including at Emergency Info B.C.
We’ve all been told to prepare for “The Big One” — a massive earthquake that is forecast to bring destruction to the Lower Mainland. While the damage will be severe, not every part of the region will be hit the same way. Darius Mahdavi went out with some researchers who are creating detailed mapping that outlines the risk at a more granular level.
The quake struck at 10:44 a.m. PT west of Ferndale, a small city in coastal Humboldt County near the Oregon border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
It was felt as far south as San Francisco, where residents felt a rolling motion for several seconds. It was followed by smaller aftershocks.
At least 5.3 million people in California were placed under a tsunami warning after the earthquake, the USGS said in a yellow alert, which predicted localized but minimal damage.
More than 1.3 million people lived close enough to the quake that they could have felt it, the USGS estimated.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, known as BART, has stopped traffic in all directions through the underwater tunnel between San Francisco and Oakland.
Visitors to the San Francisco Zoo were evacuated as a result of the earthquake, the zoo said in a post on the social media platform X. Animals were secured and staff moved to higher ground.
In the Santa Cruz area, phones buzzed with a tsunami warning from the National Weather Service that said: “A series of powerful waves and strong currents may impact coasts near you. You are in danger. Get away from coastal waters. Move to high ground or inland now. Keep away from the coast until local officials say it is safe to return.”
About 19,000 clients were without power in Humboldt County in the aftermath.
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on social media that the governor “is now meeting with state emergency officials and working to ensure Californians are safe.”
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