Earthquake Triggers Brief Tsunami Warning Along Northern California Coast

According to a spokesperson from the U.S. Geological Survey, the 7.0 magnitude shaker occurred at 10:44 a.m. PDT, approximately 70 miles southwest of Eureka in Humboldt County. Authorities immediately issued a tsunami warning.

By noon, the tsunami warning was cancelled for the coastal areas of California and Oregon, according to the National Weather Service.

Airports in the warning area include Samoa Field Airport (O33), located on a peninsula with an elevation 20 feet, Murray Field (KEKA) at 11 feet along Arcata Bay, California Redwood Coast Humboldt County Airport (KACV) 222 feet, and Jack McNamara Field (KCEC) in Crescent City, which is at an elevation of 61 feet. 

According to people who experienced the tremor, it lasted for several seconds, some said as long as a minute and produced a rolling sensation like being on the deck of a ship. The quake and several smaller aftershocks disrupted electricity and cell phone service in the region. 

In 1964, most of Crescent City was wiped out by a tsunami generated from a 9.2 temblor that originated in Anchorage, Alaska. The shaker hit Alaska at 5:36 p.m., the tsunami struck the coast of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California around midnight. The swell the wave ripped boats from their piers up and down the coast and picked everything in its path and took it inland.