The U.S. National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for the coasts of Northern California and Oregon on Thursday after a massive earthquake registering 7.0 hit just off the Pacific coast. Evacuations are underway in the area as people are being urged to move inland and to higher ground as quickly as possible.
The earthquake hit around 10:44 a.m. local time, 1:44 p.m. ET. about 45 miles southwest of Eureka, California, according to the website for the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, which contains an interactive map. CBS News reports that the tsunami is expected to hit San Francisco at about 12:10 p.m. local time but the northern part of Bay Area is expected to see it even earlier at 12:00 p.m.
People in the area received an alert on their phone reading, “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.”
The area covered by the warning stretches from Davenport, California, in the south up to Douglas, Oregon in the north. Almost 5 million people are in the area, according to CNN.
Schools are evacuating and public transit trains are being moved from underground, according to local news outlets. BART has reportedly suspended service, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s not clear how large the waves could be if a tsunami does hit the coast.
Some accounts on social media claimed around 11:45 p.m. local time that the tsunami warning had been lifted, but that was incorrect. The bad information seemed to stem from a tsunami warning for a different area listed on the Tsunami Warning System website.
“You see a lot of people hanging out by the coast right now, that’s probably what they should not be doing,” one reporter from CBS News said Thursday as overhead footage of the coast was played for viewers at home.
This a breaking news story, we will add further updates as they come in.
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Source: Gizmodo