People throughout Northern California received a MyShake alert on Thursday at 8:06 a.m., notifying them of an earthquake in Dayton, Nevada that measured 5.9. Quickly, people started asking, “Did you feel it?” There were no reports on social media from those in the area, something that normally occurs instantly after an earthquake. Almost as quickly, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) removed the earthquake notice from its website.
There was no earthquake; instead, it was a glitch in the USGS ShakeAlert System. According to the Director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, Professor Christie Rowe, the cause of the wrong message is under investigation. The ShakeAlert System relies on seismic stations in California, Oregon and Washington, and the state of Nevada does not subscribe to the system. The public is able to sign up for notifications (not early alerts) from the University of Nevada Seismological Lab at http://www.seismo.unr.edu/Contacts?notify=1.
The ShakeAlert early alert system has sent out 170 successful notifications to date, with no false alerts until Thursday.
The California Office of Emergency Services sent out a message: Cal OES is coordinating with our Nevada and federal partners to understand exactly what the federally run monitoring system detected and why. That national system is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, not the State of California, but we rely on it every day to help keep our communities safe by providing critical, life-saving information when seconds matter.”