Tsunami warnings triggered in California and Oregon after 7.0-magnitude earthquake

An earthquake ruptured off California’s coast on Thursday morning, triggering a tsunami warning for the coast of Northern California and southern Oregon.

The earthquake, a magnitude-7.0 temblor, rumbled at around 10:44 a.m., about 62 miles west of Ferndale, California, according to the United States Geological Survey. It was relatively shallow and ruptured about 6 miles beneath the Earth’s surface.

Another earthquake — which was measured at magnitude 5.8 — was reported just a few minutes later near Cobb, California, according to the agency.

The tsunami warning extends from Davenport, California, to the border between Douglas and Lane counties in Oregon.

Earthquakes can trigger tsunamis when they displace the seafloor, causing waves that can rush toward shore. A tsunami warning indicates that significant inundation and coastal flooding is expected, based on preliminary information about the quake’s position.

Harold Tobin, the director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, said the 7.0-magnitude temblor was a strike-slip earthquake about 50 miles offshore.

Strike-slip earthquakes take place when two plates slide past each other laterally.

The quake ruptured in the Mendocino fault zone, at the intersection of three plates.

“This is probably the largest earthquake in that region since the ’90s,” Tobin said.