EUREKA, Calif. — A strong earthquake was felt widely across Northern California on Thursday and authorities have issued a tsunami warning.
The quake struck at 10:44 a.m. west of Petrolia, a small city in coastal Humboldt County near the Oregon border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
At least 5.3 million people in California are under the tsunami warning after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a yellow alert, which predicts localized but minimal damage.
The quake was felt hundreds of miles away, as south as San Francisco, where residents felt a rolling motion for several seconds. It was followed by smaller aftershocks. USGS officials encourage residents to be ready for more aftershocks.
The National Weather Service urged residents along the Northern California coastline, including in the San Francisco Bay Area, to move inland due to the threat of a possible tsunami. A wave could reach the San Francisco coastline as early as 12:10 p.m., according to Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office that covers the Bay Area.
Kennedy said forecasters are waiting to get a report on how high potential waves could be. She called it “a pretty dangerous situation.”
The tsunami warning extends from the Oregon state line down to the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service. Different parts of the coast will be impacted at different times.
Officials strongly encourage people to get a mile inland from the coast or at least 100 feet up to avoid the potential tsunami.
Evacuation orders have been issued in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and some businesses, like the San Francisco Zoo, have closed for the day after evacuating.
More than 1.3 million people lived close enough to the quake that they could have felt it, the USGS estimated.
In the Santa Cruz and Bay Area regions, phones buzzed with a tsunami warning from the National Weather Service that said: “A series of powerful waves and strong currents may impact coasts near you. You are in danger. Get away from coastal waters. Move to high ground or inland now. Keep away from the coast until local officials say it is safe to return.”
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, known as BART, has stopped traffic in all directions through the underwater tunnel between San Francisco and Oakland.