A FRIGHTENING alert was accidentally sent across California and Nevada, causing panic as residents braced for a massive earthquake.
The earthquake alert warned Americans of a powerful 5.9-magnitude earthquake, advising them to “Drop, Cover, Hold on!”
The false alarm was sent to millions of people across the California Bay Area and near Carson City, Nevada.
The MyShake app, which alerts citizens of the US Geological Survey-controlled ShakeAlert system, informed residents of the mistake.
“There was no M5.9 earthquake near Carson City, NV,” the company posted on social media.
“This was a false alert by the #ShakeAlert system and this is currently being investigated.”
USGS later deleted the accidental alarm, but not before it reached the residents of San Francisco, who had been preparing for a city-ending earthquake for years.
San Francisco residents have long been warned of a massive earthquake set to destroy the city, according to The Daily Mail.
The chances of the much-anticipated “Big One” hitting the city have increased by 72 percent, USGS’ Sarah Minson previously reported.
Had the falsely reported earthquake actually happened, San Francisco would’ve been 185 miles away from the epicenter.
If the 5.9-magnitude earthquake were to hit, it would’ve been felt over 200 miles away and caused buildings to collapse, walls to crack, and windows to break.
Social media users posted the jarring messages they received.
“Phones blasting alerts across Nevada and California to Drop, Cover, Hold On! Aftershocks coming,” one person posted on social media.
The false alarm was further confirmed by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The agency posted on X that the alert was sent “to a broad audience in Northern California.”
“Cal OES is coordinating with our Nevada and federal partners to understand exactly what the federally run monitoring system detected and why,” the agency continued.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15592746/earthquake-mistake-california-nevada/
