New tsunami hazard maps highlight threat facing seven California counties — even Napa
A view of the Pacific Ocean from the roof of the Wine Country Visitor Center in Napa Valley, California, Monday, September 5, 2016.
A view of the Pacific Ocean from the roof of the Wine Country Visitor Center in Napa Valley, California, Monday, September 5, 2016. (Luis Sinco/Bay Area News Group)
Napa County, Napa County, is one of the most vulnerable areas of the state to tsunamis, and the seven cities and two unincorporated areas of the county have been ordered to update their tsunami maps following the devastating earthquake that hit Mexico on Friday.
“We have been making the maps for years and it is absolutely crucial that we stay on top of this,” said Dan McCue with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, which is responsible for updating the maps.
As a result of the massive earthquake, a tsunami warning was issued by the U.S. Geological Survey for the waters of the northern California coast in areas including Crescent City and the Bay Area.
The last major earthquake struck San Francisco about 30 years ago and has never been called anything but a “big one.” But the latest one was far more deadly, with a preliminary estimate of 6.9 on the Richter scale in some parts of Mexico. The USGS has since revised the magnitude at 6.7.
The USGS said the earthquake happened in the town of Oaxaca, where it is considered a category five, with an estimated 9.3 on the Richter scale. There is no confirmation of the death toll, but that number is expected to rise as the bodies of people who died are found.
A magnitude-4.6 earthquake off the coast of Mexico in 1985 was the largest to hit the U.S. in almost 70 years and destroyed the homes and businesses of more than 20,000 people in the community of Oaxaca.
The Mexico quake was followed by several aftershocks. By the morning of Sept. 6 there had been