An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck off the coast of California on Thursday morning, prompting a brief tsunami warning for Northern California and southern Oregon. The earthquake occurred about 62 miles west of Ferndale, California. The Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for the coast extending from Davenport, California, to the border between Douglas and Lane counties in Oregon, but canceled it shortly after. While strike-slip earthquakes, like this one, do not typically produce tsunamis, there is still a possibility. The earthquake took place in the Mendocino fault zone, where three tectonic plates intersect. Despite being the highest-magnitude earthquake in the area since the 1990s, experts do not believe it will significantly increase the risk of a major earthquake on the nearby Cascadia Subduction Zone, a major fault line capable of producing devastating earthquakes and tsunamis along the U.S. West Coast. Evan Bush, a science reporter for NBC News, is following this developing story.
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Tsunami warnings in California and Oregon canceled following 7.0-magnitude earthquake
