Fergie's Tech Blog

E-mail warns of tsunami possibility in California

Steven Musil writes in C|Net News:

An e-mail warning of the possibility of a tsunami striking the West Coast was issued after a major quake struck Tuesday off the coast of Northern California.

The 7.0-magnitude quake struck about 80 miles southwest of Crescent City at about 7:50 p.m. PDT, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, issued the bulletin about 10 minutes later, saying that while no Pacific-wide threat existed, "earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located with 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the earthquake epicenter. Authorities in the region of the epicenter should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action."

The center later canceled the warning in Northern California, adding that there was no tsunami threat to other areas of the Pacific.

Many Northern California residents learned of the tsunami warning through automatic bulletins broadcast by their cable TV providers.

posted by Fergie @ 6/15/2005 06:53:00 AM