California

California was hit by a massive earthquake on Thursday, an event the state has tried to stay alert to for years. The magnitude of the quake was measured at 7.0, according to the National Tsunami Warning Center and the United States Geological Survey. A tsunami warning was issued which was later lifted and no reports of destruction were received. 

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"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," the tsunami alert warned people near the California coast.

Nearly an hour after the quake, the National Tsunami Warning Center said, "No tsunami danger exists for the US West Coast, British Columbia and Alaska."

Scientists were prepared to issue an instant alert to millions of people through California's ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System (EEW). They say that the system performed exactly as intended on Thursday morning. 

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The early warning system (EEW) has been developed and operated by the USGS and its partners.

The system is also known as ShakeAlert and is the source of information for the MyShake app that notifies millions of people across California, Oregon and Washington.

Also Read: 130 earthquakes have hit Death Valley since Oct 9. Is the Big One coming?

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Dr Angie Lux, who works with UC Berkeley's Seismology Lab and is a scientist with the EEW, was quoted by ABC10 as saying, "An alert did go out to people throughout Northern California and Oregon, worked exactly as it should have done."

"The EEW was triggered for this earthquake. It did a great job. It worked exactly as it should have done. It estimated the maximum magnitude 6.9, which is absolutely spot on as far as earthquake early warning is concerned," she added.

ShakeAlert alerts people seconds before the quake is felt 

USGS confirmed that ShakeAlert detected an earthquake as intense as magnitude 8.0. The system is designed to warn people about an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or higher.

The interesting thing about ShakeAlert is that it detects earthquakes and alerts people seconds before they can feel it. According to Dr Lux, the energy released by a quake tells how strong it is." Although the value doesn't actually change, people can see different calculations once it's analyzed." So there is a little room for tweaking once the computers calculate it or when humans check.

The quake struck the area at 10:45 am local time, around 100 miles south of the Oregon border, the National Tsunami Warning Center said.

ABC News reported Stephen DeLong, a USGS geologist, as saying that no detailed reports of damage or landslides have been received.