7.0 Earthquake Off N. California Coast Today

[kd4ulw]

No reports of damage and tsunami warning canceled. Could have been pretty bad.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- USGS says that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake has hit Northern California in Humboldt County.

The tsunami warning has been canceled after it was initially issued by the National Weather Service following the earthquake.

It was initially reported as a 6.6 quake but then was upgraded by USGS.

There were no immediate reports of any damage.

The earthquake was felt as far south as San Francisco, where residents felt a rolling motion for several seconds. It was followed by smaller aftershocks.

The San Francisco Zoo announced that guests have been evacuated and animals and staff are moving to higher ground after a Tsunami Warning was issued due to the quake in Humboldt County.

There is a major delay in the Bay Area's BART transportation system due to the quake. There's no train service though the underwater Transbay Tube.

At least 5.3 million people in California were under the tsunami warning, the U.S. Geological Survey 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.

https://abc7news.com/post/northern-...trikes-humboldt-county-usgs-reports/15624025/

 

[d_marsh]

Am I mistaken that most Tsunamis hit with little to no warning? Or is that just on small island countries? Seems weird from the ones I have seen that they would have time to evacuate a zoo.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Am I mistaken that most Tsunamis hit with little to no warning? Or is that just on small island countries? Seems weird from the ones I have seen that they would have time to evacuate a zoo.

The government spent billions of tax payer $$ on the tsunami warning system. So they have to use it to stay relevant. So far it's just been a huge waste of money. Oh, but they do have signs all along the coast highway to warn about tsunamis. I'm sure that's a big help.

 

[kd4ulw]

It depends how the fault shifts on if a tsunami forms. They usually go ahead and warn if an earthquake happens out to sea out of caution.

 

[Peanut]

I think Hawaii gets tsunami warnings 10/12hrs in advance for quakes that happen in Japan. Takes that long for waves to travel halfway across the Pacific. Wonder if they got them for this quake too?

 

[RJ2019]

I felt it way inland, definitely some shaking. The tree ornaments and my hanging plants were all swinging around pretty good and I decided outside was the place to be. The dogs and I just stared at one another in horror there for a minute or so. The kids were at school and hid under their desks. Older son seems pretty traumatized and cried when I asked him about it, the younger kid acted like it's just another day.
It was disruptive, but not destructive. I'm worried about aftershocks, there's a lot of small quakes happening in that area.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

Since I own 2 houses in this “tsunami” zone, I will comment. One at 1850 ft and at 22ft, 2.5 miles away front the coast
The earthquake happened. It was off shore. It was on a known fault. Because it was a 7 it triggered automatic warnings.
NOAA sent out warning' s i got them here via phone.
NSGS was not consulted before the warning.
It was on a slip fault, not the type that trigger a tsunami

Would a suggestion that government agencies communicate be prudent?

 

[Caribou]

Tsunami warnings can be from minutes to several hours. If Cascadia lets go Wa and OR will have almost no notice while Japan will have several hours.

 

[Magpie]

Is this an indication of more, or will it settle down? Or does a 'slip' mean it technically wasn't an earthquake? Glad all is well.

 

[Caribou]

Is this an indication of more, or will it settle down? Or does a 'slip' mean it technically wasn't an earthquake? Glad all is well.

California has an active fault zone, there will always be more quakes. 7.0 is big for that area but not unheard of.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

A slip fault-tectonic plates move side to side against each other. Also called a horizontal fault.

A vertical fault-where tectonic plates push against each other. One plate will go under and upheave the other. Rocky Mountains would be an example. This is the type of fault that causes tsunamis

Both cause quakes.

 

[RJ2019]

All is calm here today.

 

[kd4ulw]

Took some screenshots of a video showing the wave progression of the earthquake as it was picked up on seismographs across the US. It took about 30 minutes to reach the east coast!

EDIT: it took 20 minutes to go coast to coast which means the ground wave was traveling close to 8,000 mph.

 

[SoulSeeker]

I'm sure I felt it here but I can't really tell between quakes and large trucks going by. I feel the rumble in the floor and some sound but which is which, couldn't tell ya. Small quakes are much better because they relieve the tension that would build and cause a "snap" effect. The smaller aftershocks are the earth still moving after the big release. A good thing as pressure still being released. The pressure wave moves through solid rock better than broken decomposing rock. The New Madrid quake of 1812 caused church bells in Boston to ring. That would have been one scary quake.