Massive Dual Quakes Rock New Zealand; No Tsunami Threat To Southern California
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A pair of strong earthquakes that struck Thursday off the coast of New Zealand did not post any tsunami threat to Southern California, authorities said.
The quakes registered preliminary magnitudes of 7.3 and 7.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Both were later upgraded to magnitudes of 7.4 and 8.1, respectively.
While tsunami warnings were initially issued for New Zealand, federal officials said there was no immediate tsunami threat for the California coast or other U.S. regions.
In a tweet, Southland earthquake guru and former Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones said it was unlikely any tsunami would pose a threat to California.
"We really are too far away", she wrote, adding the 2011 quake in Japan that resulted in a tsunami warning event for Southern California was from a magnitude 9 quake.