Big Quake in SoCal Overnight? Nevermind...
Updated 7:59 AM PST, Mon, Nov 24, 2008
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Russia's Sea of Okhotsk early Monday caused seismographs in California to misinterpret the data and mistakenly indicate temblors in the southern and central portions of the state, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake, with an epicenter about 1,260 miles north-northeast of Tokyo, struck at 1:03 a.m. PST, according to the USGS.
Large quakes, 7.0 or greater, can cause seismographs to erroneously interpret data, said USGS geophysicist Carrie Ann Bedwell in a telephone interview from Golden, Colo.
Computer-generated reports following the Russian earthquake indicated that two small quakes had struck California nearly simultaneously. According to the reports, the first was a 3.8-magnitude temblor recorded at 1:12 a.m., its epicenter 6 miles north-northeast of Darwin in Inyo County and 130 miles west of Las Vegas.
Other computer-generated reports said a quake struck 12 seconds later 3 miles north-northwest of Big Bear City in San Bernardino County and 80 miles east-northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The supposed second quake prompted two computer-generated reports -- the first at 1:15 a.m. describing the temblor as having a magnitude of 3.0, and a second 18 minutes later revising the magnitude to 3.4.
But seismologists later examined the computer-generated reports and determined the information was incorrect, Bedwell said.
The USGS withdrew the computer-generated reports just before 2 a.m., issuing two e-mail updates -- one on the Southland quake, the other on the one in Central California.
"This event has been deleted after review by a seismologist," each stated.
First Published: Nov 24, 2008 5:05 AM PST
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