Special Coverage: Strong Earthquake Strikes California

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.920 Out to California, where that magnitude seven point zero earthquake 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:12.440 occurred off the coast of the northern part of the state. 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:14.760 It triggered a tsunami warning that was later lifted. That 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:18.119 quake felt from San Jose to Grant's Pass, Oregon, and 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:20.639 as far inland as Sacramento, with a magnitude four point 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:24.440 two aftershock detected later that earthquake occurring along an active 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.040 plate boundary, but experts say it was not predicted by 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.240 recent smaller earthquakes in the area. We got with us 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.040 Bloomberg News Deputy team leader for Power and Natural Disasters 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.240 Mark Cheddiek, who joins us from the San Francisco Bay Area. Mark, 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:39.559 good to have you with us this afternoon. Just give 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:42.000 us your experience a little over an hour ago if 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:42.440 you felt this. 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.879 Actually I did not feel the shaking. However, I did 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:52.519 get an alert on my phone that an earthquake was imminent, 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.440 and then I got a subsequent alert that lots of 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.280 us around the Bay area got about a tsunami warning, 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:04.880 basically telling everybody to seek higher ground. I think there 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.880 are reports of limited shaking around the San Francisco Bay area, 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:15.120 and the tsunami warning obviously forced some evacuations, including our 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:17.920 offices along the pier. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.640 Anecdotally, what are you hearing from either family, friends, or 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:24.039 even colleagues as far as their experiences so. 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:29.600 Far, Well, we're hearing things like daycare centers that are 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.240 near the coastline closing early, the San Francisco Zoo shut 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:42.839 and evacuated, the Bay Area, Rapid Transit train service shut 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:48.960 service between San Francisco and the East Bay. We are 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.320 getting some reports from closer to the earthquake. One of 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:57.320 our reporters spoke to the city manager of Eureka and 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.400 they are getting some limited reports of dan image. But 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.160 it's still early, and a lot of times one of 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:07.640 these big earthquakes events events occur, it takes a little 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:09.400 while to sort of figure out kind of what kind 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:10.800 of damage has happened. 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:13.919 Yeah, so let's let's let's talk about that. It's still early. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.839 I know the Bloomberg News team is out there there 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.280 gathering data, but are we hearing any reports of significant 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.160 damages here at any point in the area. And again, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.079 this occurred off the coast, so the epicenter was by 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:27.160 no means on land that's right. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:31.160 The epicenter was about sixty two miles off the coastline. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.720 We are not at this point getting any reports of 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:40.200 severe damage. That mean that doesn't necessarily mean that hasn't occurred, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.480 but at this point we're not getting those reports. The 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.760 tsunami that earthquake did strike off the coastline of a 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:52.520 fairly sort of remote, not a densely populated part of 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:58.120 the state. So so it's you know, it's also possible 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.799 that we're just not getting a lot of reports back 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.120 because it's just not an area where we have a 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.280 lot of resources. But we'll see as the day continues. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:08.480 So far, so good on that account. 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.320 Though. It's interesting too because a seven point of a 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.600 quake is actually larger than the one that shook San 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:17.040 Francisco on October seventeenth, nineteen eighty nine, and that is 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.720 when a magnitude six point nine earthquake knocked out all 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.880 powered and killed sixty three people throughout the region. But 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.440 especially since this was off the coast, maybe a little 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.080 bit different with the tectonic plates and how they were 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.600 moving for this situation and why it would not potentially 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:32.560 be as a devastating as what it would have been 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.279 in history. So what's next in these types of situations 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.720 since you're familiar being out there and what typically happens here, well. 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.680 Typically we start getting reports from local officials about the 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:47.720 kind of damage that's occurred. It may take a few 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.320 hours before those reports start coming in. 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:52.680 You know. 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.400 The other thing is people, you know, people who are 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:58.400 in harm's way are trying, you know, trying to make 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:01.800 sure their friends and family are see and it's a 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.960 little bit of a you know, chaotic period initially, but 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.240 after that period passes, we start to get a better 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.240 sense of like, you know, what's the magnitude of all 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.360 of this, so to speak. The good news is they 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:16.359 did lift the tsunami warning because that was that was 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.320 something that we were quite concerned about here in the 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:21.040 Sancisco Bay area. We have a lot of low lying 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:26.560 areas that are vulnerable to the tsunami. So, you know, 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.000 so far, so good. We will see as reports come 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.159 in throughout the day, but hopefully, hopefully we kind of 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:33.080 dodged a bullet here. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.200 Yeah, we're certainly grateful that you're okay and that the 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.840 folks out there are okay, Mark, and definitely appreciate you 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.400 joining us. That's Bloomberg News Deputy team leader for Power 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.200 and Natural Disasters Mark Chediak, joining us from the San 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:45.359 Francisco Bay Area