USGS, the US government run by the US Department of the Interior and their network based in Hawaii in charge of measuring, alerting and warning about earthquakes and tsunamis worldwide just emailed an alert to thousands of media and stakeholders around the world about a 6.8 Earthquake in the Santa Barbara Channel. Such an earthquake could have had devastating consequences.
It was a false alarm triggered by a staffer who was putting in old earthquake data from 1925. if it was real, such an alarm could have triggered panic.
eTN reached out to USGS media spokesperson Justin Pressfield. He confirmed, it was an error and a mistake in putting in a date. The date on the alert such circulated was the year 2025 and it should have been 1925. Since 2025 is a future date, it triggered an immediate alert and email warnings. Perhaps the future for California is already set – let’s hope not.
M6.8 – SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL, CALIF.
Magnitude | 6.8 |
Date-Time |
|
Location | 34.300N 119.800W |
Depth | 10 km |
Distances |
|
Location Uncertainty | Horizontal: 0.0 km; Vertical 0.0 km |
Parameters | Nph = 0; Dmin = 0.0 km; Rmss = 0.00 seconds; Gp = 0° Version = 0 |
Event ID | ci 37161284 |
Shortly after the alert, USGS posted to twitter.