Powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes off Cape Mendocino coast of California
California: The US Geological Survey (USGS) reports that a strong magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred offshore Cape Mendocino, California, around 100 kilometers southwest of Ferndale.
At 12:14 a.m. IST on December 6, an earthquake occurred close to the North California coast.
The National Center for Seismology shared a post on X that said, “EQ of M: 7.0, On: 06/12/2024 00:14:24 IST, Lat: 40.38 N, Long: 124.64 W, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Near Coast of N. California.”
The earthquake is thought to have been caused by strike-slip faulting on the Mendocino Fracture Zone and occurred near the Mendocino triple junction, which is where the Pacific, North America, and Juan de Fuca/Gorda plates join.
Off the coast of northern California, close to the Mendocino Fracture Zone, the M 7.0 Offshore Cape Mendocino earthquake struck on December 5, 2024, about 100 kilometers southwest of Ferndale, California. The USGA said on its official website that the earthquake happened close to the Mendocino triple junction, which is the point where the Pacific, North America, and Juan de Fuca/Gorda plates converge.
It said that the focal mechanism solutions show that strike-slip faulting on a steeply dipping fault that strikes either north-northeast or east-southeast caused the rupture.
The USGA also noted that the position, depth, and faulting mechanism suggest that this event most likely took place on or close to the Mendocino Fracture Zone, an east-southeast fault zone that defines the border between the subducting Gorda Plate to the north and the Pacific Plate to the south.
In the meanwhile, NWS Tsunami Alerts, the US National Tsunami Warning Center, said that the tsunami warning that was in effect for California and Oregon has been canceled.
NWS Tsunami Alerts shared a post on X that said, “The coastal regions of California and Oregon are no longer under a tsunami warning. There is now no risk of tsunamis in this location. This will be the last notification from the US National Tsunami Warning Center about this incident.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, also discussed the tsunami warning’s cancelation. He said on X, “Per @USGS at https://tsunami.gov, the tsunami warning affecting California and Oregon has been cancelled.”
Notably, the area around the Mendocino triple junction experiences frequent earthquakes. North-south compression inside the Gorda plate and right-lateral translation along the plate boundary are caused by oblique motion between the Pacific plate and the southern Juan de Fuca/Gorda plate.
