A tsunami warning has been triggered after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California.
The US National Tsunami Center issued the concerning alert just before 11am on Thursday (7pm GMT).
The area affected by the warning spans from Davenport in California’s Santa Cruz County to the Oregon border, and is home to some 5.3 million people.
The powerful earthquake was reported at 10.44am local time (6.44pm GMT) in the Pacific Ocean, some 60 miles away west of Ferndale in northern California, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
Aftershocks of magnitude 4.2, 3.8, 3.7 and 3.3 were reported off the coast.
“That was quite the shaker,” said Talia Flores, of the Humboldt Bay Fire Department. “It lasted a lot longer than we had anticipated.”
One social media user reported feeling the quake “pretty strongly” in Oakland, and another shared a video of the water in their swimming pool shaking.
In the Santa Cruz area, 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.”
Bay Area Rapid Transportation (BART) closed Transbay Tube service to and from San Francisco after the earthquake.
A tsunami is a series of long waves caused by significant disruptions in the ocean, most commonly earthquakes along tectonic plate boundaries.
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