7.0 magnitude earthquake reported off Northern California coast, tsunami warning canceled
(PETROLIA, Calif) — A 7.0 magnitude earthquake was reported off the coast of Northern California on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The epicenter is off the coast near Petrolia, in Humboldt County, the USGS said.
Also, a tsunami warning that had been issued for coastal areas in California and Oregon, including San Francisco, was canceled just before noon local time.
“The tsunami Warning is canceled for the coastal areas of California and Oregon,” the National Tsunami Warning Center wrote on X. “No tsunami danger presently exists for this area.”
The warning had been in effect from Davenport, California, to Douglas/Lane Line Oregon, the National Tsunami Warning Center said.
Police in Berkeley, California, had issued an evacuation order for parts of the city “due to a tsunami coming to West Berkeley.”
“People in the Tsunami Zone are in IMMEDIATE DANGER and MUST EVACUATE NOW,” the police department said. “Stay east of 7th St. This is a lawful order to leave now.”
The earthquake was reported at 10:44 a.m. local time, according to the National Tsunami Warning Center.
Subsequent earthquakes were reported in the region, including a 4.2 magnitude earthquake near Petrolia, according to the USGS.
Shake alerts in the USGS’s earthquake early warning system were delivered as far north as Lincoln City, Oregon, and as far south as Salinas, California, the agency said.
“System was activated and performed as designed. Still trying to ascertain how much warning people received,” the USGS said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said officials with the state’s Office of Emergency Services are “actively responding to the earthquakes this morning in Northern California.”
“Californians should follow guidance from local emergency responders,” he said on social media.
Regarding aftershocks, there is currently a 5% chance of a magnitude 6 or larger earthquake occurring in the next week, and a 34% chance of a magnitude 5 quake occurring in that time frame, the USGS said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers found this sinkhole while searching for a missing woman; Pennsylvania State Police
(UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa.) — Rescuers are desperately searching for a grandmother they believe fell into a deep sinkhole — holding out hope of finding her despite the difficult rescue conditions.
Elizabeth Pollard, who was last seen Monday evening, has not yet been found amid the complicated search effort in Unity Township, Pennsylvania, police said Wednesday morning.
The sinkhole is believed to be tied to an abandoned coal mine and formed while Pollard was walking in the area, officials said. Search crews have been able to make entry into the mine area, though the integrity of the mine has been compromised by the water they are using to break up the ground, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said during a briefing Wednesday.
The search will continue as long as needed pending any safety concerns, though the digging process may be slower now, he said.
“Hopefully she’s in an air pocket,” Limani said during a briefing Tuesday evening, noting that there have been incidents in the region where people have survived similar situations in underground mines. “This is a rescue to me until something says that it’s not.”
Rescue teams from nearby areas have joined forces, swapping shifts to keep the effort going. Oxygen tankers are being delivered regularly to supply the mine shaft, and crews have made progress entering the underground area.
The conditions are tough, with clay-like soil making it difficult to dig, but rescuers remain determined.
“We’re doing everything we can, and no one is giving up,” said Limani.
He added, “It’s heartbreaking for her family and everyone here. But we’re not stopping. We’re all hoping for a miracle.”
Pollard was reported missing by a family member shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, Limani said at an earlier press conference Tuesday.
Pollard was last seen around 5 p.m. Monday, Limani said. The family member said Pollard had gone out to look for her cat Monday afternoon but has not been heard from since, he said.
Pollard’s vehicle was located shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday with her 5-year-old granddaughter inside, though Pollard was nowhere to be seen, police said.
“At that point in time we realized this could be a very bad situation,” Limani said.
While searching for Pollard in the area, troopers found an apparent sinkhole with an opening about the “size of a manhole” 15 to 20 feet away from the vehicle, Limani said.
Emergency responders were called to the scene in what is currently being considered a rescue mission, authorities said. Local firefighters, a technical rescue team and the state’s Bureau of Mine Safety are among those working alongside an excavation team to remove dirt to access the sinkhole, Limani said.
The current evidence points toward Pollard being in the sinkhole, Limani said.
“We don’t feel a reason that we should be looking elsewhere,” he said.
The sinkhole appears to have been created during the time that Pollard was walking around, Limani said, noting there is no evidence the hole was there before she started looking for her cat.
The area where the sinkhole formed has a “very thin layer of earth” and appears to have been deteriorating “for a long time,” Limani said.
“It appears to be mostly just grass interwoven where she had stepped,” he said. “There wasn’t much earth at all to hold up that space.”
A camera inserted into the opening of the sinkhole showed a “big void, and it was all different depths,” Marguerite Fire Chief Scot Graham told reporters during the earlier press briefing.
A camera did not pick up any sounds, though authorities did see a “modern-type” shoe in the sinkhole, according to Pleasant Unity Fire Chief John Bacha.
“The process is long and it is tedious,” Graham said of the search effort.
The mine last operated in 1952, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The depth to the coal seam in this area is approximately 20 feet, a department spokesperson said.
Once the scene is clear, the department will investigate the site “to determine if this issue is the result of historic mine subsidence,” the spokesperson said.
Pollard’s granddaughter is safe, despite the cold temperatures overnight, and is currently with her parents, Limani said.
The family is asking for privacy at this time and is hoping for “good news,” he said.
“We need to get a little bit lucky,” Limani said. “We’re going to do everything we can.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul and Jason Volack contributed to this report.
Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The Washington Commanders may be one step closer to returning to their old stadium in Washington, D.C. after congressional leaders included a provision in the short-term government funding bill released Tuesday to transfer the jurisdiction of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site from the federal government to local District of Columbia authorities.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser celebrated the provision, calling it a “giant step forward” and that she is “looking to the future of a field of possibilities.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Tenn.) said in a statement Tuesday the legislation “will unlock the district’s full potential, generate meaningful new jobs, and add millions in additional city revenue for the nation’s capital.”
He added, “Now is the time to get the federal government out of the way and empower local officials to clean up the RFK site, invest and create new economic opportunities.”
This provision would allow the Commanders to negotiate the construction of a new stadium where the RFK site is located.
The measure comes after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris met with leaders on Capitol Hill regarding the stadium proposal earlier this month.
The Washington football team played at the RFK site in D.C. for decades before moving to nearby Landover, Maryland, in a newly built stadium in the late 1990s. Since then, RFK Stadium has fallen into disrepair.
While a potential move for the Commanders would be a big loss for Maryland, the government funding bill included major wins for the state including the transfer of fighter jets — the D.C. Air National Guard squadron — and full federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Both chambers of Congress are expected to vote on the funding bill this week to avert a government shutdown.
(NEW YORK) — A week after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York, the health insurer’s parent company is praising him as “one of the good guys” and seeking to both console employees and reassure them that their work makes a difference.
In a message to the company’s nearly 400,000 employees, Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group — UnitedHealthcare’s parent company — confirmed Thompson was laid to rest on Monday and that colleagues gathered in Minnesota on Tuesday for a memorial.
“I know this has been an extraordinarily difficult week,” Witty said in the letter, obtained by ABC News. “Our company remains in a state of mourning.”
Referring to Thompson, 50, who had led the world’s largest health insurer since 2021, Witty said: “It was a life lived to the absolute fullest. And a life that helped make a profoundly positive impact on the lives of so many people. People he never saw. People he never met. People who never knew him. But people Brian cared so deeply about.”
He added: “Brian was one of the good guys. He was certainly one of the smartest guys. I think he was one of the best guys. I’m going to miss him. And I am incredibly proud to call him my friend.”
Thompson’s killing thrust the nation’s health care industry into the spotlight.
When suspect Luigi Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, earlier this week, investigators discovered he had writings with him that criticized health care companies.
A bulletin from the New York Police Department warned of heightened risks to health care executives in the wake of the shooting, citing social media posts that expressed frustration with the health insurance industry and celebrated Thompson’s death.
Witty’s letter to employees said the best way to remember Thompson “is to carry on his legacy — continuing to do right by the people who’ve entrusted us with their care and those who are counting on us to take care of their loved ones.”
The letter added: “We owe it to Brian to make good on our promise to make health care work better for everybody, in every way.”
Witty’s letter also shared messages of support from people who shared their sympathies and described how UnitedHealthcare had helped them. He said the company has received thousands of phone calls, text messages, comments and emails offering condolences and gratitude.
“I am super proud to be a part of an organization that does so much good for so many and to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the most compassionate, most dedicated and truly brilliant people in health care,” Witty said in the letter. “I hope you feel that, too.”
