News: 0175600885

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After 7.0 Earthquake, Coastal Northern California Phones Get 'Tsunami Warning' Alert (Since Cancelled) (sfgate.com)

(Thursday December 05, 2024 @05:25PM (EditorDavid) from the making-waves dept.)


A tsunami warning was issued — and then cancelled about an hour later — for 400 miles of California coastline after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast near California's northern border with Oregon. "About 5 million people were under the warning while it was in effect," [1]reports a San Francisco news site .

Phones had sounded with an emergency tone in affected areas, with a warning that "You are in danger. Get away from coastal waters. Move to high ground or inland now." Warning sirens sounded in some areas, and as a precaution San Francisco [2]paused service for its BART trains travelling under the San Francisco Bay. But while tsunami waves were originally predicted to hit San Francisco at 12:10 p.m. — they didn't. New information prompted the cancellation of the tsunami warning.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [3]sinij for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.kron4.com/news/tsunami-warning-issued-after-strong-california-earthquake/

[2] https://x.com/SFBARTalert/status/1864748482248003637

[3] https://www.slashdot.org/~sinij



Vertical shaking (Score:3, Interesting)

by hadleyburg ( 823868 )

Fortunately this quake, although shallow, seems to have not done much damage.

One thing that is pretty disconcerting about earthquakes is vertical shaking. Horizontal movement is somehow more acceptable - lights swinging, doors and windows rattling. But a sudden drop that feels like turbulence during a flight is quite a shock. That faith that you have always had, that the earth under your feet will essentially remain where it is, is questioned.

Re: (Score:3)

by skam240 ( 789197 )

Yeah, fortunately there isnt a lot of stuff up that way in California. It's pretty lightly populated.

Re: (Score:2)

by bjoast ( 1310293 )

> That faith that you have always had, that the earth under your feet will essentially remain where it is, is questioned.

Thank you for that vivid description. I hope I never have to experience that.

Better safe than sorry (Score:3)

by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )

I'd rather this infrequent and minor inconvenience than no warning at all.

Re: (Score:2)

by dgatwood ( 11270 )

> I'd rather this infrequent and minor inconvenience than no warning at all.

Except it isn't. If you're coastal, you have to stop what you're doing and go to higher ground. People end up evacuating for no reason. And if it keeps happening like this, they're going to start ignoring the warnings, and then when there's an actual tsunami (assuming that's actually possible given the shape of the sea floor, which may or may not be the case), a whole lot of people are going to die.

We need actual real-time swell monitoring, not "Ooh, there was an earthquake, so there might be a tsunami".

Re: Better safe than sorry (Score:1)

by blue trane ( 110704 )

Are they training us?

Surf's Up! (Score:2)

by guygo ( 894298 )

Let's all go to the beach and watch the tsunami!

Latest local news here: https://kymkemp.com/ (Score:1)

by melanopsin ( 10167413 )

From Redheaded Blackbelt News [1]https://kymkemp.com/ [kymkemp.com] [UPDATE 12:24 p.m.: Damage Reports Coming In] 6.6 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern California Near Rio Dell [2]https://kymkemp.com/2024/12/05... [kymkemp.com] [UPDATE 1:48 p.m.] Aftershocks Continue Following 7.0 Earthquake Near Petrolia [3]https://kymkemp.com/2024/12/05... [kymkemp.com]

[1] https://kymkemp.com/

[2] https://kymkemp.com/2024/12/05/6-6-magnitude-earthquake-shakes-northern-california-near-rio-dell/

[3] https://kymkemp.com/2024/12/05/aftershocks-continue-following-7-0-earthquake-near-petrolia/

No damage to SF (Score:1)

by BishopBerkeley ( 734647 )

Does that mean God hated the fish in that area of the Pacific?

Far duller than a serpent's tooth it is to spend a quiet youth.