What is ‘hurriquake’? Southern California hit by earthquake during Hurricane Hilary

A major tropical cyclone, Hurricane Hilary, battered Southern California on Sunday night. Hilary originated from a disturbance south of the southern coast of Mexico associated with a tropical wave that entered the far eastern Pacific Ocean from Central America on August 12.

This is the first time that the National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm warning for Southern California. The last time a tropical storm made landfall in Southern California was in Long Beach in 1939.

The storm made landfall in the northern part of Mexico's Baja California peninsula at 11:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

In California, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit Southern California with its epicentre in Ojai, between Santa Barbara and Ventura. The quake occurred along the Sisar fault, according to USGS data. A social media post by Ventura County Sheriff revealed there were no immediate reports of damage.

What is a ‘hurriquake’?

This is a rare phenomenon of a hurricane and earthquake occurring at the same time. After the earthquake, #Hurriquake began trending on X (formerly Twitter). Dr Lucy Jones, a seismologist, has said that there is a 5 per cent chance that a stronger earthquake will hit Los Angeles anytime soon.

As per experts, Hurricane Hilary is another natural calamity caused by human-caused climate change. It is set to weaken as it moves north, but forecasters warn it could still bring dangerous and catastrophic flooding to the state.

US President Biden issues statement

President Joe Biden issued a statement on Hilary, saying, “As soon as Tropical Storm Hilary’s path became clear, my Administration took immediate action to prepare. At my direction, FEMA deployed to California federal personnel and supplies that can be surged to impacted communities. The U.S. Coast Guard pre-positioned aircraft to allow for rapid response and search-and-rescue efforts. My Administration also deployed federal personnel to Nevada to ensure the state has additional support, and we will continue to coordinate with California, Nevada, and Arizona on any resources they might need.”

Meanwhile, many records for daily rainfall were broken in Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service. These include Long Beach Airport (1.56 inches), Hollywood Burbank Airport (1.61 inches), Palmdale Airport (2.95 inches), Lancaster (2.72) and Santa Barbara Airport (.06).

Hilary has also caused river levels in California to rise.

(With inputs from agencies)

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