Tsunami alert was issued for CA and OR. Here's what that means

SEATTLE - A 7.0-magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern California prompted a tsunami warning for the California and Oregon coast late Thursday morning.

The warning encompassed areas of northern and central California, including the San Francisco Bay, up to southern Oregon along the coastline. This triggered a tsunami warning from federal authorities.

That warning was canceled after officials determined the tsunami activity was no longer a threat.

Is there a tsunami going on right now?

There was tsunami activity occurring roughly 60 miles off the coast of California. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it no longer threatens communities in the warning zone.

"Based on all available data, the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed," reads a memo from NOAA. "There is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake."

Could a tsunami hit us?

Not this one! But a tsunami — big or small — is certain at some point in the region's future.

Tsunamis are waves generated by ocean-floor earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or landslides, all of which are possible in western Washington, according to a 2014 study from the City of Seattle. A future tsunami has the potential to reach Seattle, and tsunamis can form in Puget Sound, too — typically from landslides.

Most notably, the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 600-mile fault line that stretches from Vancouver Island to northern California, has the potential to produce the deadliest and most destructive tsunami in U.S. history, 

Another study from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources explored the potential aftermath of a tsunami triggered by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake along the Seattle Fault zone, which crosses east and west through Puget Sound and downtown Seattle.

In 1949, an earthquake in Olympia triggered a landslide into the Tacoma Narrows, causing a six- to eight-foot tsunami three days later. Additionally, geological evidence shows a devastating tsunami hit Seattle over 1,000 years ago around the year, caused by a quake along the Seattle Fault Zone.

"If a tsunami like the one in 900 AD happened again it would be devastating," reads the city's report. "The tsunami would hit immediately after the ground stopped moving. People along the shore would have little time to escape. It would destroy buildings along the shore and flood areas up to a mile inland."

What is the current warning system for a tsunami?

Tsunami monitoring is handled by NOAA's Tsunami Program, which comprises several federal agencies and has an office in both Alaska and Hawaii.

The administration makes models to forecast tsunami impacts, and even carries out decision-support services for local and regional governments if a tsunami is expected to make landfall. If an earthquake meets certain criteria, NOAA says, their warning centers issue alerts through emergency channels, emergency management agencies, the news, cell phone alerts and more.

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