No Tsunami Threat After 6.9 Quake
Monday, Aug 3, 2009 | Updated 12:36 PM PDT
USGS
The magnitude-6.9 quake was in the Gulf of California.
Scientists say there's no tsunami threat to the West Coast and Hawaii following two earthquakes that struck minutes apart in Mexico's Gulf of California.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the first temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 hit the Gulf of California at 10:55 a.m. PDT Monday. It was followed about five minutes later by a magnitude-6.9.
The West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says no destructive tsunami is expected along the West Coast. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says there's no tsunami threat to Hawaii.
The quakes occurred more than 300 miles south of the California-Mexico border. Scientists say some areas where strong shaking occurred may experience local underwater landslides.
People in San Diego's downtown high rises felt the shaking. At San Diego's City Hall one city employee reported seeing crowds of people filing out of the building. By 11:30 a.m., the crowd of people had moved back inside.
It was more of a strange sound than a rattling according to one downtown worker.
“Wasn’t so much that I felt it but I heard it,” said Greg Shimansky. “It lasted so long it didn’t feel so much like an earthquake.”
Charles Washington was sitting at his desk in a building downtown. “It felt like a creaking noise. It lasted up to 40 seconds,” said Washington. “We thought it was a window washer at first too.”
“We thought it was really something,” he said.
NBCSanDiego received reports from two people working on higher floors at two separate downtown high rises saying books fell of shelves and file cabinets rocked.
One Facebook user, Raffael Antonio Scullari in North Park, messaged the station saying nothing was felt in North Park.
Delfina sent an email saying the SANDAG offices at the Wells Fargo Plaza were swaying. Daphanie works for the city at 4th and B and emailed to say that her building shook during the quake.
