No big impact in LA County from predicted tsunami surge

SANTA MONICA - The arrival of tsunami surges came and went with only a small impact observed. Police in Long Beach, reporters in Malibu, and a crowd of tsunami fans on the Santa Monica Pier all reported that the predicted 12:25 p.m. arrival time came and went without any impact.

A 2.2 foot tsunami surge was measured at the Santa Monica tide gauge by the National Weather Service, as the flow from the Chilean earthquake arrived at 12:24 p.m. Further north, Ventura officials reported a three-foot surge in Ventura Harbor, and several navigational buoys washed away as water flowed out of the harbor following the initial surge.

To the south, lifeguards in San Diego saw a six-foot tidal switch in La Jolla.

``It wasn't dangerous, but the water went out lower than an especially low tide and came back in,'' said San Diego lifeguard Lt. John Everhart. ``That was definitely a tsunami event.''

In Oceanside, a police volunteer said ``we could see the currents come in the mouth of Oceanside Harbor, in and out two or three times, since a little after noon.'' Ron Graham said ``there was no damage to boats. It was pretty tame here.''

The tsunami was officially measured at 1.4 feet in San Diego, 1.3 feet at Los Angeles harbor, 2.2 feet at Santa Monica and 1.4 feet at Santa Barbara. The surge at Santa Monica was the largest measured in California, according to the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

Those experts had predicted that the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile could generate waves as much as 40 inches high at Malibu and Santa Monica beginning at 12:25 p.m.

Although nothing hit at that time, the Warning Center warned that tsunami surges could strike up to two hours after the first arrival time. Tsunami experts used a network of buoys along the Central American coasts today, and warned that the strongest surges may come two hours after the first waves are detected.

Local undersea conditions could have caused the maximum tsunami to vary in height between 24-40 inches at various locations along the Southern California coast, according to U.S. government oceanographers.

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile at 10:24 p.m. Friday (Los Angeles time) generated damaging waves in South and Central America, and has prompted evacuation orders on beachfront communities in the Hawaiian islands.

No evacuation orders have been issued in California, and lifeguards at south-facing Zuma Beach said they were not going to order people off the beach.

``We're on heightened awareness,'' said a lifeguard supervisor at Zuma. Los Angeles County moved its fleet of Baywatch patrol boats out of marinas, and further offshore from their normal buoys at Surfrider and Zuma beaches, as a precaution.

The National Weather Service said the biggest impact on California's coast was likely to be unusual currents in harbors or near breakwaters and rocks.

The tsunami center uses historical data and computer models to predict tsunami behavior as anticipated swells come ashore. Today's forecast, issued at 7:06 a.m., placed the highest predicted local waves for Santa Monica, where a 3.3 foot wave was said possible.

Although four Navy ships in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii put out to sea, port officials in San Diego reported no naval movements there.