New tsunami hazard maps highlight threat facing seven California counties — even Napa and San Luis Obispo are in danger — following devastating earthquake Friday night
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The world is facing one of its largest natural disasters, and we hope everyone is safe and well.
Seven California counties were highlighted on new tsunami hazard maps on Sunday, following the devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,800 people and injured some 3,000 in Napa and Sonoma counties Friday night.
The updated maps, compiled by the US Geological Survey, showed the threat of tsunami in Napa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Imperial and Ventura counties, as well as in the Santa Cruz and San Benito Islands.
The county-by-county hazard maps could be useful for tourists who visit California, as well as for residents living in vulnerable areas.
“It will be a huge relief to the people of California,” said Susanne Kolesnik, who lives in the Santa Cruz Islands, where about 100,000 people live on a small island in a channel. “It’s very good for tourism. It says it’s going to be dangerous.”
Kolesnik and her husband have lived on the island for 30 years, and she said they have had to have a plan.
“We have a safe distance away from the mainland, but we have no plan for what to do if there’s a tsunami,” she said. “It’s been a challenge there, because we have no idea if the tsunami is going to hit us.”
The updated maps, prepared by the USGS, were prepared after recent earthquakes — including a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Alaska in 2008 and a 6.3 quake in Southern California in 2011.
The latest earthquake Friday night was the strongest of its kind in the last century, and