Emergency responders say tsunami warning response went 'according to plan'
FERNDALE, Calif. - Thursday's tsunami warnings stretched from Oregon down to the Monterey Coast. According to the National Weather Service, a broad warning was necessary.
In a thread posted to X, the NWS Bay Area explained the timeline of the 7.0 earthquake off the Northern California coast and the short-lived tsunami warning to follow.
"There are 2 different ways of getting a tsunami warning, depending if the offshore earthquake or other trigger event was distant or local," read one post on X.
It added that distant earthquakes give researchers enough time to see if tsunamis develop and where they may head. Then, they can determine which areas need warnings and evacuations.
"There is much less time with a local tsunami, and the warning must be issued with more uncertainty in order to allow the maximum possible evacuation window. Yesterday's event was this type."
Northern California coast endures 7.0 earthquake, dodges tsunami
There is no other way to say it, California's North Coast dodged one of nature’s biggest bullets. Hours after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the Rio Dell Volunteer Fire Department was responding to calls.
The tsunami warning was issued five minutes after the earthquake struck. Cities like Berkeley, Albany, and parts of San Francisco issued evacuations and moved people away from the coastline.
Diego Melgar, a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon, says all the warning systems worked as planned, but could also use improvements.
"The Tsunami Warning Center responded appropriately," he said. "I, for one, would prefer they push the button on an alert, then pick apart a few minutes later on whether the alert needs to be lowered or heightened."
"The NTWC is staffed 24/7, always ready to react this quickly to a new tsunami threat. When it happens this close to the coast, time is critical to enable evacuations as tsunami waves travel very fast (up to 500 mph in the deep ocean)," read another post from the NWS Bay Area on X.
"I think there is a little bit of learning we need to do on how we issue tsunami alerts," said Melgar.
"I think people were scared and alarmed by the tsunami warning. That being said, the protocol was followed."