Where did earthquake hit in Northern California? Which cities had tsunami warnings? See map
An 7.0-magnitude earthquake off the Northern California coast shook up the region on Thursday morning, prompting a tsunami warning and evacuation orders for areas of California and Oregon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The tsunami warning was temporarily in effect for coastal areas extending roughly 600 miles from Davenport about 10 miles north of Santa Cruz to the border between Douglas and Lane counties in Oregon about 10 miles south of Florence, Oregon, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The state agency warned of “widespread dangerous coastal flooding accompanied by powerful currents.”
However, the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center eventually canceled the warning, the National Weather Service announced via X around noon Thursday.
“No tsunami danger presently exists for (the) region,” the weather service said.
Where did earthquake hit off Northern California coast?
The epicenter of the earthquake was about 39 miles west of Petrolia, southwest of Eureka, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Geological Survey also reported temblors near the Lake County community of Cobb, including a 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in nearby Sonoma County, less than five minutes after the larger quake.
According to the Geological Survey, the earthquake officially known as the “2024 Offshore Cape Mendocino, California Earthquake” took place off the coast of Northern California near the Mendocino triple junction where the Pacific, North America and Juan de Fuca/Gorda plates meet.
The federal agency said the location and depth of the quake indicated that it “likely occurred on or near the Mendocino Fracture Zone.”
This fault zone strikes east to southeast and forms the boundary between the southern Pacific Plate and the northern Gorda Plate.
Big quakes are common in the area around the Mendocino triple junction, the Geological Survey said.
“In the past century, there have been at least 40 other earthquakes of M6 or larger,” within 250 kilometers of where the 7.0-magnitude quake hit Thursday, the agency said on it’s website.
The quake was initially measured at a magnitude of 6.6 but the figure was revised minutes later by the Geological Survey.
Which communities felt tremors?
The quake, which was recorded at 10:47 a.m., rattled parts of Humboldt County, California State Sen. Mike McGuire wrote in an X post.
McGuire said tremors were “widely felt throughout the North Coast, as far south of Sonoma County.”
Shocks also spread through downtown Sacramento and could be felt in high-rise buildings along Capitol Mall, The Sacramento Bee previously reported.
Which areas had tsunami evacuation warnings?
Residents of Crescent City in Del Norte County were ordered to evacuate, McGuire said in an update just before 11:15 a.m.
“All residents should head to higher ground immediately and follow local OES and Sheriff Office instructions,” McGuire wrote.
Humboldt County emergency officials said that there is no longer a tsunami threat but warned residents to be prepared for aftershocks, the sheriff’s office said in a post on X.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said the evacuation warning had been downgraded to “situational awareness for tsunami” in the Mendocino Coast area.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Where did earthquake hit in Northern California? Which cities had tsunami warnings? See map."
