I live in San Francisco. My phone just shrieked with an emergency Tsunami warning following a 7.3. quake nearby.
I live about 20 ft above sea level. Naturally I’m concerned. So I go online and search every local news site and emergency management site that I can think of.
Nothing.
Anywhere.
WTF?
maybe it’s up in the time it took me to post this.
Got an earthquake warning up here in Ashland Oregon too. Looks like is was a 7.0 off the coast south of Eureka.
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=us7000nw7b&extent=34.09816,-127.8479&extent=43.00465,-122.20093
[URL=tsunami san francisco warning - Google Search [/URL]
Here’s the info about the earthquake:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000nw7b/executive
Here’s the info about the tsunami:
https://www.tsunami.gov
The tsunami warning area extends from Florence Oregon to Davenport California. San Francisco is near the south end of the warning area so it probably won’t be severely affected. I live on the coast 30 miles south of SF but am on a hill. Nevertheless I’m watching the ocean. I would expect the effects to arrive here around 11:50 to 11:30.
This is so maddening! What are we supposed to do? Do I need to run for the hills?
At this point the warning is posted on a couple news sights but more like as an interesting factoid then a HEY! GET the FUCK out of DODGE!
SF emergency management page?
Nada.
Federal USGS Quake sight? That reports the tsunami warning but nothing beyond saying there is a warning. Nothing on what to do… how to get more info.
No emergency sirens.
I’m kinda shocked. I mean yes, it could be already determined that there is no threat. BUT THEN YOU NEED TO SPLASH that info all over the web!
And if it IS a threat right now, you damn well better splash THAT all over the web, too.
And yet I, in San Francisco, received an ear-piercing emergency warning on my phone. I can’t just assume “Oh it’s fine. It’s up in Oregon”.
I rely on authorities to disseminate information ASAP at times like this. Yet there is nothing other than the warning itself.
ETA-- I withdraw my comment about SF’s placement in the warning zone. We’re on the southern end, not in the middle as I first said.
Yeah I got that warning too. I got one for the earthquake and one for the tsunami. The earthquake warning arrived a few minutes before I actually felt the shaking. I don’t think the “authorities” can accurately predict the wave height at any particular point on the coast. The tsunami sirens have not been sounded here either. If I lived 20 feet above sea level I might head uphill for an hour or two just to be safe.
I live on the Bay not far from Pier 39. Do you think I will see much water activity in the actual Bay (rather than the ocean)?
I really don’t know. I’ve lived here for almost 30 years and this is the first time I’ve ever experienced a tsunami warning. I would expect the effects to be larger on the ocean side than on the Bay side. I certainly wouldn’t go down to the beach to see what happens.
SFGate Article, with maps and timing:
7.0 magnitude earthquake hits Northern California, tsunami warning issued
Timing:
Fort Bragg: 11:10 a.m.
Crescent City: 11:20 a.m.
San Francisco: 12:10 p.m
Thank you. I can find plenty of news items about it now; my alarm was that there was no information anywhere in the first 5 minutes or so. A tsunami is just the sort of emergency that needs to be reported at least within 60 seconds on a government emergency management site. (NOTE: I misspelled ‘site’ a lot earlier. But I never post as fast and unrevised as I did for this thread)
Unfortunately there is an exceptionally high tide right now about 5.5 feet in SF, peaking at 12:05, just about when the tsunami is expected to arrive.
If you want to see what’s happening real time:
I understand your sentiment and your alarm. However one has to be realistic. You DID receive a warning within minutes of the earthquake, on your phone. For a more detailed description of the risks and recommendations, an agency would have to analyze the seismic data, come to conclusions, and type the information into their web site. Is it realistic to expect that all to happen within 60 seconds?
ETA I think the info on tsunami.gov was indeed posted within a very few minutes.
I mentioned government emergency management sites. They sure as hell better have a tsunami warning up within 60 seconds. Not any really information about it, just that there is one. Somebody declared a Tsunami warning and that fact can and should be disseminated immediately.
You’re correct about it taking more time to get the details out. But when there’s a fire in a building you don’t take the time to research the details of it, you just pull the alarm.
I just got a more serious warning on my phone:
Tsunami Warning in effect, AVOID low-lying areas and beaches. Move to higher ground NOW! Tsunami expected around 1200pm.
I didn’t get that. Did you say you’re 30 miles south of SF?
Yes, near Half Moon Bay.
Ocean Beach webcam (the west side of SF)
Who is that idiot walking along the beach with a surfboard?