Accidental Alert Warns California Of An Earthquake That Happened In 1925
Get the Full StoryAn algorithmic error told Californians they’d be in for a major earthquake on Wednesday, but the earthquake had already happened in 1925.The automatically generated report from the U.S. Geological Survey indicated that a magnitude 6.8 quake would occur in the Pacific Ocean 10 miles west of Santa Barbara.
Alerts were sent for a M6.8 in California. This was an error. More information to come.— USGS USGS June 22, 2017
As a frame of reference, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in 1989 killed 63 people and caused 6 billion of damage in California.
So what gives with this quake scare?
Regarding: https: t.co z8Ykmo6OXX pic.twitter.com 68Q0I2Ix2j— USGS USGS June 22, 2017
“The quake did happen, but it happened in 1925,” Rafael Abreu, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told The Associated Press.
This should seem like good news, but the false alarm still sent shockwaves through social media. Many automated tweets, synced with the USGS alert system, were pushed out, sparking concern.
Additionally, people around the country began to scratch their heads as no one had reported feeling tremors something that most certainly would have happened in large numbers had an earthquake of that size actually come about.
DrLucyJones M6.8 90 miles away Im sure we'd feel it right? Is this real? pic.twitter.com OX1MzcgFrC— Alex S alxxdes June 22, 2017
Still, publications like the Los Angeles Times, which has automated emails from the USGS to aid in its coverage, ended up alerting the public about the fake quake and then had to rescind the messages.
Please note: We just deleted an automated tweet saying there was a 6.8 earthquake in Isla Vista. That earthquake happened in 1925.— L.A. Times: L.A. Now LANow June 22, 2017
We have an algorithm Quakebot that automatically writes stories about earthquakes based on USGS alerts. The USGS alert was incorrect.— L.A. Times: L.A. Now LANow June 22, 2017
The LA Times bot even generated an article about the fake quake:
Was the article automated too? pic.twitter.com C8lMJa2dM9— Colin Cooley runwicked June 22, 2017
Yes: Quakebot is an algorithm that automatically writes stories based on USGS alerts.— L.A. Times: L.A. Now LANow June 22, 2017
So, how did the USGS casually send out an alert that confused even the LA Times?
Apparently false alarms are fairly common, though the AP says “they rarely report quakes so big or in such populated areas.”
Also, researchers from the California Institute of Technology were using new information to analyze the epicenter of the 1925 earthquake in the Santa Barbara Channel. That earthquake a real one leveled several buildings and killed many people. You can see the LA Times’ article from that quake below:
False alarm: Caltech staffer accidentally sends alert for large 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake https: t.co zSyy4Yzmvt pic.twitter.com oNXJRUwZFN— Los Angeles Times latimes June 22, 2017
Even more intriguingly, the full quake report associated with Wednesday’s tweet listed the date as June 29, the same date as the 1925 quake, but indicated it would happen in the year 2025. So, yeah, that USGS report was all sorts of screwed up.
Let’s just hope they were wrong about any quakes in 2025 too. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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