Newsom, CA Dems Slam Trump For Fake Quake Alert Debacle, Demanding Answers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — California Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday blamed the Trump administration and congressional Republicans for a false earthquake alert sent out last Thursday across Northern California. Millions of Northern California users of the MyShake app received warning of a non-existent 5.9-magnitude earthquake centered in Nevada, a mistake Newsom blamed on cuts to federal emergency readiness programs.

“As a San Franciscan, I know all too well that the next big earthquake isn’t a matter of if but when. When Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress shortchange critical safety systems and target hardworking federal staff, that’s not just negligence, it’s an active endangerment of American lives. California remains committed to building resilience through its own investments and partnerships,” the governor said in a news release issued by his office.

Newsom cited a “broader decline in federal readiness” that includes cuts to the National Tsunami Warning System and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s choice not to renew a $300,000 grant supporting nine seismic monitoring stations in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, a region where many tsunamis form. According to Newsom, these cuts have weakened early detection efforts providing early warnings to coastal communities from California to Alaska, and could potentially delay tsunami warnings by 15 minutes.

Newsom also criticized cuts to the California–Nevada River Forecast Center, claiming that they undermine data infrastructure that provides real-time information during severe storms and floods.

After the alert, both the MyShake app and USGS quickly released statements confirming that it was a mistake. USGS deleted the earthquake from its list, and said the incident was under review. Patch reached out to USGS for further comment on the alert and Newsom’s statement.

Five other California politicians have also criticized the alert. On Wednesday, Congressmembers Kevin Mullin, Eric Swalwell, Laura Friedman, Jared Huffman, and Zoe Lofgren wrote a letter to USGS Director Ned Mamula inquiring into the incident. The legislators asked the USGS to explain why multiple seismic stations reported shaking when none occurred; to clarify ShakeAlert’s safeguards to prevent erroneous alerts; and how USGS is working with state and local emergency management officials to correct the mistake.

“The public relies on USGS for authoritative, real-time information during earthquakes,” they wrote. “Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of alerts is essential for emergency preparedness and public confidence. We appreciate your agency’s ongoing work to strengthen the nation’s earthquake early-warning capabilities, and a clear understanding of these issues will help support efforts to further improve seismic safety and resilience.”

The false alert was not the first one to rattle California since the Trump administration made drastic cuts to federal agencies such as the USGS via Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. In March, the USGS erroneously sent out an alert for a magnitude 4.6 earthquake in the Salton Sea that never happened.

The USGS was one of several federal agencies gutted in February by the Trump Administration's sudden mass layoffs. The bulk of the phone numbers listed for West Coast public affairs staffers on the USGS website were no longer after the cuts. The chaos within the agency continued when the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats published a list of dozens of USGS offices slated for closure.

Huffman, the House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member, criticized the abrupt closure of 34 USGS field offices especially because of their role in monitoring earthquake activity. "Many USGS locations need to be field-based to do important monitoring for things like earthquake and volcano activity," he said.

SEE ALSO:

• False Earthquake Alert Unnerves NorCal
• Large SoCal Earthquake Alert Erroneously Sent By USGS
• CA's 'Big One' May Look Like No Other Quake In History Or Forecast Models, Researchers Warn
• Are You Living on a Fault Line?

Patch Staffer Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.