7.0 Earthquake Strikes off Northern California Coast

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck off the coast of Northern California late Thursday morning local time, according to the US Geological Survey. A quake this strong is relatively rare, with officials reporting only about 15 around the world each year. A tsunami warning that was issued for parts of California and the Oregon coastline was canceled by the National Tsunami Warning Center after some residents fled their homes. Most significant off-coast quakes prompt such warnings, as experts have little time to determine the immediate risk, and the result of a tsunami could be disastrous. The quake’s epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean south of Eureka, California, the USGS said. Eureka is the largest coastal city between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, and about 300 miles northwest of Sacramento. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to Thursday’s earthquake in Northern California. The move allows resources to move more freely to aid with any damage that occurred. Early damage assessments are still underway, and the state is working with teams on the ground, he said. “It’s another reminder of the state that we live in and the state of mind we need to bring to our day to day reality,” Newsom said. In a briefing on Thursday, Stephen DeLong, a supervisory research geologist at the USGS, said the earthquake occurred “well off shore.” The epicenter of the quake was about 50 miles southwest of Eureka, California, over the Pacific Ocean, the USGS previously said. DeLong said the tectonic plate to the north moved to the right and the plate to the south moved to the left.