When a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Humboldt County on Thursday, the Bay Area’s cities, counties, and emergency services responded unevenly, according to a tsunami warning issued by the National Weather Service.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the National Weather Service issued a tsunami notice at 10:51 a.m., seven minutes after the earthquake occurred at 10:44 a.m., around 45 miles off the coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers, or roughly 6.2 miles.
At 12:10 p.m., it first issued a warning that a tsunami would strike the San Francisco shore.
At 11:20 a.m., the city of Berkeley informed residents and visitors to evacuate east of Seventh Street in the western portion of the city via Alameda County’s emergency alert system, AC Alert. At 11:30 a.m., the city announced on its official X account that West Berkeley residents should leave right away.
The National Weather Service ended its tsunami warning at 11:55 a.m., and the city rescinded the evacuation orders at 12:06 p.m. At 12:15 p.m., it posted an update on social media to inform homeowners that they may go back to their homes.
The alert was issued in response to the agency’s procedure, and the National Weather Service Bay Area X account wrote on Friday morning that “there are lot of questions, frustration, and even some anger about how it all unfolded.”
Let’s discuss the recent tsunami warning, night owls. We don’t receive these alerts very often, and the way it all happened has left many people wondering, frustrated, and even angry. We’ll review the warning process, science, and history.
The thread on X discussed the various tsunami alarm types and clarified that there is a time restriction for local tsunamis, “and the warning must be issued with more uncertainty in order to allow the maximum possible evacuation window.” The National Tsunami Warning Center issued the warning just five minutes after the 7.0 earthquake occurred.
“The downside of this speed requirement is that the NTWC does not have the luxury of waiting to actually observe a tsunami wave before the first warning is needed,” the article stated. “They can only confirm that with deep ocean buoys and coastal observations.”
The warning was eventually canceled 70 minutes after it was issued because more data analysis indicated that there was no dangerous tsunami threat.
In an email, a representative for the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management stated that the organization started evacuations of beaches and low-lying coastal neighborhoods and called an Incident Management Teams meeting with city agencies to decide on the next course of action.
At 11:15 a.m., the Department of Emergency Management sent out the advisory in Tagalog, Mandarin, and English via its X account.
At 11:34 a.m., the city’s emergency alert system issued a warning to residents to evacuate at least one block inland from the water.
In coastal locations, emergency personnel also announced the evacuation orders over the loudspeakers in their cars.
Shortly before noon, the department disseminated the National Weather Service’s message revoking the warning, and at 12:18 p.m., it sent out its own update through its emergency alert system.
When the alarm was rescinded, the city had already activated its Joint Information Center and Emergency Operations Center to coordinate a follow-up response.
As a precaution, the San Francisco Fire Department continues to advise people to stay away from the coast throughout Thursday, according to Justin Schorr, a spokesman for the Department. He called on the people to heed this and other warnings.
“This alarm wasn’t false. “This was a serious issue,” Schorr stated.
He suggested taking use of this occasion to make sure locals have a plan in case of an emergency.
When the tsunami was predicted to strike Contra Costa County, the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Division’s Community Warning System did not issue an alert until the warning was canceled, over an hour after the National Weather Service issued it.
A request for comment on the reason for the delay in the alert was not immediately answered by a division representative.
Using Nixle, a technology utilized by emergency agencies and municipalities, the city of Richmond did send out an alert. The Richmond Fire Department shared it, noting on their X account that around 11:17, residents should “move inland or to higher ground.”
According to a news statement from the county, San Mateo County’s Department of Emergency Management personnel convened in a regional operations center alongside other public safety officials to keep an eye on the situation.
According to the county, emergency management thought about activating the tsunami warning sirens but ultimately chose not to.
San Mateo County did not issue any evacuation orders, but law enforcement and fire departments vacated the beaches.
According to a record on its website, Marin County did not issue an emergency notice through its notice Marin alert system; but, the county did send a message via its emergency services website, marinoem.org.
At 11:26 a.m., the Marin County Sheriff’s Office posted on its X account that anyone on a beach or “very near the coast” should immediately seek higher ground. The Sheriff’s Office advised individuals to move to a second level if that was not feasible.
San Francisco, San Mateo, Napa, and Sonoma counties did not record any damage or casualties related to the earthquake.
Links to assist with planning are provided, and emergency notifications in San Francisco can be located at sf72.org.
Visit acalert.org for Alameda County emergency alerts.
Go to https://emergency.marincounty.gov/pages/alertmarin to register for Alert Marin.
To register for San Mateo County emergency notifications, go to https://www.smcgov.org/dem/smc-alert.
Visit https://cwsalerts.com to learn about the most recent alerts in Contra Costa County and to register for its Community Warning System.
Go to https://socoemergency.org/ to register for Sonoma County emergency alerts. Napa County emergency notifications are available at https://readynapacounty.org/214/ALERT-Napa-County.
While Solano County notifications are available at https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/oes/alertsolano/information.asp, residents of Santa Cruz County should register for emergency alerts at this website.
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Eliot Pierce is a dedicated writer for ChiefsFocus.com, covering local crime and finance news. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Eliot aims to provide his readers with clear and insightful analysis, helping them navigate the complexities of their financial lives while staying informed about important local events. His commitment to delivering accurate and engaging content makes him a valuable resource for the community.