Tsunami Alert Cancelled After Magnitude 7 Earthquake Shakes California
A magnitude 7 earthquake shook the northern coast of California on Thursday, triggering a tsunami alert that was later cancelled along the coasts of California and Oregon, according to official sources. About 4.7 million residents of California and Oregon were under the tsunami alert, and many of them even evacuated.
A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake struck northern California on Thursday, December 5, prompting a tsunami alert that extended as far as the state of Oregon but was later cancelled, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The quake, which occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), had its epicenter about 39 miles (63 kilometers) west of the city of Ferndale, a sparsely populated area on California’s northern coast, according to the USGS.
The National Tsunami Center issued an alert for a long stretch of the U.S. West Coast, from Dunes City, Oregon, south to San Francisco and San José, California—about 400 miles (643 kilometers) away.
San Francisco and a large surrounding area of the San Francisco Bay were under a tsunami alert, but it was later cancelled.
“The tsunami alert is cancelled for the coastal areas of California and the state of Oregon. There is currently no tsunami danger for this area,” according to a statement from the U.S. National Weather Service’s Tsunami Warning System.
Three minutes after the initial shaking, a magnitude 5.8 aftershock struck 9 kilometers from Cobb, in northern California, followed by more than a dozen tremors ranging between magnitudes 2.5 and 4.3, according to the USGS.
So far, no casualties have been reported. Local authorities are working to assess possible damage and continue to advise residents to stay away from beach areas.
Although earthquakes are common throughout California, as it lies along the western boundary of the North American Plate, they usually do not exceed magnitude 5.
The most tragic earthquake in recent history that remains in the memory of many Californians was the 1994 Northridge quake, with a magnitude of 6.7 in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which left 57 people dead, thousands injured, and caused extensive property damage.
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