Rob AriasA 7.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Northern California led to the National Weather Service issuing a Tsunami alert this morning. The initial warning was sent through the Wireless Emergency Alert System (WEA) at about 10:51 a.m.
By default, alerts from WEA override the mute setting on most mobile devices and can be quite startling.
The City of Emeryville issued an advisory alert at about 11:10 a.m. followed by the Emeryville PD four minutes later.
Bay Area residents anxiously awaited further word for the next 20 minutes monitoring their phones and social media.
At about 11:30 a.m., The Berkeley PD and City of Berkeley issued an evacuation alert telling residents the Tsunami was “on its way to West Berkeley.”
“People in the Tsunami Zone are in IMMEDIATE DANGER and MUST EVACUATE NOW“ the alert read asking those in Western Berkeley neighborhoods to shelter east of 7th street.
The City of Berkeley also activated its sirens and speakers that are part of its emergency warning system, according to The Berkeley Scanner.
The City of Berkeley has issued an Evacuation Order due to a Tsunami coming to West Berkeley.
— City of Berkeley (@CityofBerkeley) December 5, 2024
EVACUATE NOW
People in the Tsunami Zone are in IMMEDIATE DANGER and MUST EVACUATE NOW. Stay east of 7th St. This is a lawful order to leave now.
The archived Berkeley PD alert was labeled “Extreme Severity” and noted a “Extraordinary threat to life or property” with a greater than 50% certainty.
Neither the City of Emeryville nor The Emeryville PD issued a similar evacuation alert.
30 minutes later, to the relief of residents, the City of Berkeley alert was canceled.
The Tsunami Warning has been CANCELLED.
— City of Berkeley (@CityofBerkeley) December 5, 2024
Evacuation orders for West Berkeley have been lifted. It is safe to return to the area.
View Berkeley’s real-time emergency map: https://t.co/IC9XvJ3que https://t.co/JqpGqaoCkb
Longtime Emeryville residents will recall the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that made its way across the Pacific. The below 1:13 YouTube video shot from Pacific Park Plaza shows its gentle landfall on the Emeryville Shoreline the next day.
KQED’s Bay Curious podcast published an episode and assessed that the East Bay was relatively shielded even from a major earthquake.
According to UC Santa Cruz earth and planetary sciences professor Steven Ward, even a historically large Tsunami wouldn’t reach the steel portion of the Golden Gate Bridge’s footings.
“By the time it reached Treasure Island or the East Bay, the wave would be less than 3 feet tall.”
Ward created several simulations visualizing the impacts of a 16-foot wave traveling at 55 MPH.
There has never been a recorded tsunami-related death in San Francisco although two Tsunami’s in the 1960s caused damage to some vessels.
