by Michael Snyder, End Of The American Dream:
The west coast just got a major league wake up call. There has been an unusual number of sizable earthquakes along the California coast in 2024, and on Thursday we witnessed the largest one so far. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake stuck about 40 miles offshore, and authorities issued a tsunami warning which sparked quite a bit of panic. Thankfully, a tsunami did not materialize and the earthquake did not hit a heavily populated area. But scientists have been warning us over and over again that “the Big One” is way overdue. Could it be possible that the quake that we just witnessed was a preview of the “mega-earthquake” that is eventually going to hit the west coast?
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Originally, it was being reported that a magnitude 6.6 earthquake had shaken northern California on Thursday, but it was quickly upgraded to a magnitude 7.0 quake…
USGS says that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake has hit Northern California in Humboldt County.
The epicenter is off the coast near Petrolia, in Humboldt County, the USGS said.
Also, a tsunami warning that had been issued for coastal areas in California and Oregon, including San Francisco, was canceled just before noon local time.
At first, authorities were deeply concerned that this huge earthquake could generate a very large tsunami.
A warning was issued, and local residents received very ominous warnings on their phones…
In the Santa Cruz area, phones buzzed with a tsunami warning from the National Weather Service that said: “A series of powerful waves and strong currents may impact coasts near you. You are in danger. Get away from coastal waters. Move to high ground or inland now. Keep away from the coast until local officials say it is safe to return.”
For a short period of time, there was widespread panic in northern California.
Large numbers of people rushed to their vehicles and started heading for higher ground. Unfortunately, this also caused some enormous traffic headaches…
But the frantic warnings triggered mass panic and evacuations.
In Fort Bragg, where the first waves were meant to hit, residents were seen rushing to higher ground, preparing for the onslaught.
In San Francisco, many rushed into their cars and hit the road. It caused snaking traffic on coastal highways, which only added to the panic.
If a dangerous tsunami had been produced, there would not have been much of an opportunity for people to escape, so we should be very thankful that one did not materialize.
Following the initial earthquake, there were at least 13 major aftershocks…
By 12:30, less than two hours after the initial quake, the area had experienced 13 different aftershocks, ranging from 5.1 to 3.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Hopefully things will settle down in the hours ahead.
If the magnitude 7.0 quake had occurred in a heavily populated area, a substantial amount of damage could have been done.
But even though the epicenter was about 40 miles offshore, lots of people still felt quite a bit of shaking. In fact, one man told USA Today that his apartment “was swaying back and forth for a bit”…
In Arcata, California, just under 60 miles from Petrolia, 25-year-old Jared Mitchell was having an early lunch in his apartment when he felt a “jolt,” he told USA TODAY.
“It wasn’t that big of a violent shake,” said Mitchell, an assistant manager at Los Bagels, a bagel shop in town. “But my apartment was swaying back and forth for a bit. It was kind of scary, like I was on a raft in the middle of the sea.”
It will take some time to fully assess the damage that occurred.
At this point, the USGS is telling us that there is a possibility that millions of dollars of damage was done…
Preliminary data from the US Geological Survey indicates a 32% chance of estimated economic losses at $1-$10 million, and a 32% chance of economic losses between $10-$100 million, with the chances of losses greater than that estimated at 15%.
That isn’t good news, but it could have been so much worse.
California Governor Gavin Newsom was so alarmed by what happened that he actually declared a state of emergency…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to Thursday’s 7 magniatude earthquake, per CNN.
He said early damage assesments are underway and the state is working with teams on the ground.
‘It’s another reminder of the state that we live in and the state of mind we need to bring to our day to day reality,’ Newsom said.
I do not believe that declaring a state of emergency was necessary, but hopefully this quake will motivate people living along the coast to consider what might be ahead.
We are being told that the epicenter was located where “three tectonic plates meet at the Mendocino Triple Junction”…
Geology nerd alert – this is almost the exact spot where the San Andreas fault terminates and three tectonic plates meet at the Mendocino Triple Junction
There is a reason why the San Andreas fault is so famous.
It runs right through the heart of southern California, and experts keep warning us that the region is “overdue” for an absolutely massive earthquake…
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