USGS Glitch Triggers False Earthquake Alerts Across Northern California A technical malfunction in the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake detection system led to multiple false alerts across Northern California late Monday, according to preliminary findings. The alerts, which indicated several small earthquakes occurring within minutes in different regions of the state, were later determined to be the result of a system error rather than actual seismic activity. The automated notifications, issued shortly before 10 p.m., suggested seismic events with magnitudes ranging from 3.2 to 3.8. These were reported to have occurred in areas such as Point Reyes, Bonny Doon, Shaver Lake in Fresno County, and Yreka. The initial reports were generated by the Northern California Seismic System, a component of the California Integrated Seismic Network, and were marked as “automatic” detections. However, inconsistencies in the data raised doubts about the accuracy of the alerts. The USGS has not yet provided a full public explanation of the incident or confirmed whether any of the reported quakes were genuine. It is standard practice for automatically generated earthquake data to undergo review, with some reports being revised or removed if they are found to be erroneous. As of late Monday night, there were no confirmed reports of shaking, damage, or injuries linked to the alerts. The USGS’s “Did You Feel It?” system, which collects public accounts of seismic activity, showed minimal to no activity associated with the listed events. Seismologists routinely examine automatically generated earthquake data, which can occasionally produce incorrect readings due to signal interference or processing errors.#usgs #northern_california #california_integrated_seismic_network #point_reyes #bonny_doon
