An earthquake alert preparing people to “drop, cover, hold on” buzzed on phones in the US on Thursday – but turned out to be completely false.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) warned a 5.9-magnitude quake had struck near Dayton, Nevada, with people in the San Francisco area, about 180 miles away, also getting the message.
However, multiple law enforcement agencies near the reported epicentre reported no shaking or other earthquake signs.
A 5.9 quake can typically cause minor property damage and pronounced shaking, according to magnitude scales.
The reason for the false alarm is unclear but it’s believed to be the first time the automatic system has sent a bogus message.
“To my knowledge we’ve never had a false alert like this,” said Yaareb Altaweel, from the National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado.
“The system has put out incorrect information on exaggerated magnitude or depth, which was corrected immediately by the on-duty seismologist, [but] I have seen that happen before,” said Altaweel.
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Angie Lux, at the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, also said she had never heard of a completely false alert.
She said the cause could have been “noisy triggers” from human-made sources, such as explosions or construction work, or even from large vehicles.
Natural phenomena for such triggers include wind and ocean waves.
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The UK experienced its own (authentic) earthquake this week when a 3.3-magnitude tremor hit northwest England.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) said it was “felt across the South Lakes and Lancashire, mainly within 20km of the epicentre”, including Kendal and Ulverston in neighbouring Cumbria.
