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December 05, 2024

Tsunami warning

Why the tsunami warning was canceled after people were told to evacuate

From CNN's Angela Fritz

Coastal residents in Northern California and Oregon felt extreme whiplash Thursday when, within a single hour, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Eureka, a tsunami warning was posted, officials urged people to pack go-bags and head a mile inland, and then the tsunami warning was canceled.

The immediate warning was evidence of how disastrous a tsunami would be, particularly along the highly populated West Coast, and how important it was to get that message out as soon as possible — even before anyone knew whether a tsunami was on the way.

Underwater earthquakes of this magnitude have a very high likelihood of strong vertical movement: the ocean floor jerks upward or downward and jolts the water around it, generating a tsunami.

But it’s hard to tell whether that’s happened in the minutes after the earthquake strikes — and those minutes are precious time people need to be warned to evacuate.

This is why you’ll see most off-coast earthquakes come with a tsunami warning, just in case.

Geophysicists would much rather get the warning out and cancel it than give people too little time to get to safety.

Until scientists know for certain that there is no danger, the message to everyone along the coast has to be, “Get to higher ground.”

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