OOPS

USGS Accidentally Alerts Earthquake That Hit in 1925

“The quake did happen, but it happened in 1925.”

The U.S. Geological Survey accidentally sent out an alert about a 6.8-magnitude earthquake Wednesday that actually occurred nearly 100 years ago. The USGS said the automatic alert was a false alarm based on an earthquake that occurred in 1925 off the coast of Santa Barbara. Scientists at that California Institute of Technology were attempting to relocate the epicenter of the 1925 tremor, and their actions were “misinterpreted by software as a current event,” USGS officials said. The actual 1925 earthquake destroyed parts of Santa Barbara and resulted in damages of around $8 million at the time. Thirteen people died.