Minor Tsunami Surges Began Reaching California Coast Around Midnight; Local Boats Mobilize in Advance

As waves from the massive M8.8 Kamchatka earthquake began reaching the California coast just before midnight on Tuesday, tide gauges at Crescent City and Humboldt Bay showed a clear signal: surges just under two feet were hitting Northern California. Although so far minor, emergency officials warned that waves will continue to arrive in multiple pulses throughout the night and could become more hazardous.

The U.S. National Weather Service in Eureka confirmed at 12:49 a.m. that the tsunami was visible on tide gauges. “The first tsunami waves are beginning to impact the coast with clear waves being recorded at the Crescent City and Humboldt Bay tide gauges,” the agency stated. “So far waves just shy of 2 feet have been recorded in Crescent City.”

In preparation, some boats left their moorings and headed out to deeper water—part of a well-rehearsed response to potential tsunami events. Among those taking early action was Leroy Zerlang of Zerlang and Zerlang Marine Services.

“What we did, because of the tsunami warning, we took our boats, our two big tugs…, the Alsace Lorraine and the Pacific Gemini, and we took our smaller tug, the Ajax. And we got them away from the dock, because they’re large and if we had any surge … and got them out in case there’s any catastrophes on the Bay,” Zerlang said. “Mainly a precautionary. … We do that type of stuff.”

Zerlang said they also moved what he called “the Bay treasure”, the Madaket, to a safer part of the Bay. “We took it out to the widest, deepest spot in the Bay, away from all the marinas, away from anything else that’s around that could hurt it, so that it has lots of room. … Then we watched it with one of the smaller boats.”

The National Weather Service advised mariners to get their vessels to a “depth of 30 fathoms (180 feet) before wave arrival.”

“Worst thing … that a tug boat or a boat of any weight can do is sit at a dock,” Zerlang explained. “Especially when we tie them up like at the Eureka public marina. Because of our weight and our size, if we have any surge, it’ll just break the dock apart. And then if we break the dock apart, then we have more damaged boats.”

“The boats are safer when they’re underway in a tsunami.”

Zerlang confirmed that other vessels also left harbor: “I believe Crescent City, a lot of the fishing boats in Crescent City pulled out. I know the Humboldt State boat pulled out, and I think a couple of other boats pulled out of Eureka.” In addition we know that a number of boats in the Trinidad Harbor also moved away from their docks.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific, a tide gauge at Sand Island, Hawaii captured a dramatic illustration of tsunami behavior. “This is what a tsunami looks like at a tide gauge,” the National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard posted. “This is from Sand Island, Hawaii, you can see the water levels going up and down dramatically, very different from the typical water levels.”

Although this particular tsunami event was forecast to produce only modest fluctuations—between 8 and 16 inches—Zerlang said the effects were evident on the water around midnight.

Zerlang added, “We gained—we went up and down eight inches since I’ve been talking to you. … That’s good. I mean, it could have been eight foot. Thank God it wasn’t.”

To track conditions, his team monitors offshore buoys. “We’re constantly monitoring right now still, buoy 22 and buoy 44, to see if there’s any movement. We’re watching the buoys that are off of Crescent City, further out in the ocean.”

Though the surge so far has remained within expected limits, Zerlang called it a valuable drill. “This is basically—we’ll consider it a drill that we got the boats underway, we had them ready to go, and we were there to help if anything happened.”

Back onshore, Zerlang explained how the “technology” that he used to gauge the surge. “We’ve got a starfish on the side of our pier … One minute it’s underwater, and the next minute it’s eight inches below the water, and the next minute it’s one inch above the water again. So there is some, definitely some movement here.”

Though the first surge came through around midnight, emergency agencies are telling the public to stay off beaches and out of harbors until the advisory is lifted. Waves are expected to continue in pulses for hours.

Zerlang says the community was lucky with the small size of the tsunami so far. “We had a good drill, we’ve learned a lot.”

Stay tuned to the National Weather Service, tsunami.gov, Humboldt County OES, the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group, Redheaded Blackbelt, and local authorities for updates.

Earlier:

• Tsunami Watch for North Coast After Massive 8.7 Kamchatka Quake
• UPGRADE: Tsunami Advisory Issued for California’s North Coast Following Massive 8.8 Kamchatka Quake
• TSUNAMI WARNING Issued for Humboldt and Del Norte Coasts After Massive 8.8 Earthquake Near Kamchatka
• Shelter Cove Remains Under Advisory, Not Warning, as Tsunami Alert Sparks Confusion