An earthquake struck off the coast of California on Thursday morning, briefly triggering a tsunami warning for the coasts of northern California and southern Oregon.
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck around 10:44 a.m. about 92 miles west of Ferndale, California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A tsunami warning was issued for the coast from Davenport, California, to the border of Douglas and Lane counties in Oregon. The Tsunami Warning Center lifted the warning around 11:55 a.m.
No injuries or deaths have been reported so far in Humboldt County, which has land closest to the epicenter, Humboldt County District 2 Supervisor Michelle Bushnell told NBC News. But she said she has heard stories of broken water mains, broken windows and homes being knocked off their foundations.
About 10,000 people were without power in Humboldt County, according to state Sen. Mike McGuire.
Earthquakes can shift the ocean floor and cause waves to rush toward the coast, causing tsunamis. A tsunami warning indicates that significant flooding and coastal flooding is expected based on preliminary information about the location of the earthquake.
Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Earthquake Network, said the magnitude 7.0 quake was a strike-slip earthquake. A strike-slip earthquake occurs when two plates slide against each other.
The earthquake occurred in the Mendocino fault zone, where three plates meet: the Pacific, North American, and Juan de Fuca plates.
“This is exactly where the Cascadia subduction zone ends to the south and the San Andreas fault begins,” Tobin said. “This is the most seismically active area in all of California over the past several decades. It’s no surprise that we would see an earthquake of this magnitude.”
Tobin said this was the largest earthquake to occur in the region since the 1990s.
Tobin said the quake did not occur in the Cascadia Trench, and the risk of earthquakes there is unlikely to be elevated.
The Cascadia subduction zone is one of the greatest hazards in the United States. This fault runs offshore along the U.S. West Coast from Northern California to northern Vancouver Island. It is capable of producing a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and a tsunami approximately 100 feet high.
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