LAPUSH — Residents living on the lower elevations in LaPush and Neah Bay evacuated their homes last night and headed for higher ground after a tsunami warning went into effect following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Northern California.
The lower village on the Quileute Reservation was evacuated immediately after the warning, said Roy Black III, a resident of LaPush whose house is on the bluff above the village.
Black said he felt safe from a tidal wave.
“It would have to be ‘Poseidon’-type wave to get us here, but with the lower village it would take any kind of surge,” said Black, 45.
People were moved to the A-ka-lat Center on the bluffs, said LaPush Police Chief Bill Lyon.
The quake struck at about 7:50 p.m. southwest of Crescent City, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.
Black said he heard the tsunami warning siren, informing people that a tsunami could be on the way.
Police activated the siren manually, Lyon said.
“But it did work,” he added.
The tsunami warning was officially canceled at 9:09 p.m.
By 9:10 p.m. three officers, four reserve firefighters and three state Fish and Wildlife officers had evacuated between 600 and 700 people from the lower village, the resort, the marina and part of the middle village, Lyon said.
Officials began evacuating the low-lying areas in the Three Rivers area as well, he said.
Neah Bay also evacuated its residents to higher ground after learning of the earthquake.
However, its recently installed tsunami warning siren did not go off, Neah Bay Police Chief T.J. Greene said.
“The warning is supposed to be set off by regional emergency action messages,” Greene said.
“Where that is sent from is out of our control.”
Instead, Neah Bay police drove door to door and warned residents to move to higher ground, Greene said.
