Massive magnitude 7 earthquake strikes off California coast

News
By
published

A magnitude 7 earthquake struck off the coast of Petrolia, California on Thursday (Dec. 5).

a map showing the location of an earthquake
A map showing the location and intensity of the earthquake. (Image credit: Leaflet, Google Maps, Esri, HERE, Garmin, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), swisstopo, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community)

A magnitude 7 earthquake hit off the coast of northern California on Thursday (Dec. 5).

However, a tsunami warning that had initially been prompted by the earthquake has now been canceled, according to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.

The earthquake hit at 10:44 a.m. PST (18:44 UTC) at a depth of about 0.4 mile (0.6 kilometers), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The earthquake occurred off the coast, about 39 miles (63 km) northwest of the city of Petrolia in Humboldt County. It's likely that these numbers will be updated as the USGS gathers more information.

Related: The 20 largest recorded earthquakes in history

A map showing a tsunami warning along the West coast of the US

A map showing the location of the initial tsunami warning along the coast. The warning has now been canceled. (Image credit: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, EPA)
RELATED STORIES

—How big is the largest possible earthquake?

—LA may be spared 'horrifying' fate of the 'Big One' from San Andreas, simulation suggests

—Tsunamis up to 90 feet high smash into New Zealand every 580 years, study finds

Currently, the USGS is reporting that the "landslides triggered by this earthquake are estimated to be limited in number." According to the USGS Shake Map, people reported feeling extreme shaking on the California coast by the earthquake.

Other small earthquakes, including a magnitude 4.2 and a magnitude 3.3, have also hit the area today. There are no immediate reports of damage, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 3:38 p.m. EST to note that the tsunami warning has been canceled.

Laura Geggel
Laura Geggel
Editor

Laura is the archaeology and Life's Little Mysteries editor at Live Science. She also reports on general science, including paleontology. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. Laura holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in science writing from NYU.