Generally modest tsunami waves arrived in California Wednesday with no initial reports of damage.
Officials said people should stay away from beach for the time being as the tsunami warning continues after a massive quake in Russia.
But neither California nor Hawaii has seen major issues so far. In fact, Hawaii is lifting some evacuation orders. In California, some alerts were downgraded. Officials warn the wave action will continue for hours.
California’s Humboldt and Del Norte counties received the most severe warnings in the state. Crescent City recorded top waves so far of about 3.5 feet.
Waves hit 2.5 feet in San Francisco and generally a foot or less in Southern California.
Here are some totals as of 5 a.m:
- Humboldt Bay 1.2ft
- Crescent City 3.6ft
- Point Reyes 0.8ft
- Monterey 1.1ft
- Port San Luis 1.3ft
- Richmond 0.4ft
- Santa Monica 0.5ft
The tsunami could last as long as 30 hours in Crescent City, where waves of up to 5 feet were predicted. Crescent City’s harbor was destroyed and one man died in a 2011 tsunami, and in 1964, a tsunami killed 11 people.
“This is not going to be a 1964 event that we’re looking at, destroying several blocks of the town,” Crescent City Manager Eric Weir said in an update shortly before 11 p.m. “However, it is going to be an event that creates a lot of disruption in the ocean, a lot of strong currents. We’re asking people to stay away from the beaches, stay away from the mouths of the river and any low-lying area.”
The worst of the potential damage was forecast for 3:30 a.m., when tsunami waves of 3, 4 and maybe even 5 feet were expected to coincide with high tide and possibly cause coastal flooding, said meteorologist Ryan Aylward of the National Weather Service’s Eureka office.
Residents were urged to evacuate boats in the Crescent City Harbor and drive their vehicles out of the Lighthouse Cove RV Park. A temporary evacuation point was established at the VFW Hall in Crescent City.
Another area that could see significant tsunami is Port San Luis in San Luis Obispo County, where a tsunami of 2 to 3.7 feet could hit. Waves of 1.3 feet and under were predicted for the rest of the California coastline.
