Thursday, June 22, 2017
No, Santa Barbara Did Not Have A Massive 6.8 Earthquake On Wednesday
In more proof you shouldn't believe everything you read on Twitter, the US Geological Survey accidentally sent out an alert for a 6.8 earthquake, centered off the coast of California on Wednesday. The alert--which was erroneously repeated across multiple publications via automated "bot" postings--apparently came as a result of a software error, which occurred as researchers were looking into historic records of a 6.8 earthquake which occurred in Santa Barbara in 1925. That quake destroyed most of downtown Santa Barbara, and severely damaged the Mission Santa Barbara.
Alerts were sent for a M6.8 in California. This was an error. More information to come.
— USGS (@USGS) June 22, 2017
Regarding: https://t.co/z8Ykmo6OXX pic.twitter.com/68Q0I2Ix2j
— USGS (@USGS) June 22, 2017