California tsunami advisory enters second day; boats, docks damaged in Ventura Harbor

A tsunami advisory remained in effect along Southern California's coast Saturday as the National Weather Service reported continued wave surges that caused new damage. The Weather Service urged people to stay away from beaches and piers.

Tidal gauges are still reporting surge activity at all points along Southern California, the NWS said in a statement.

At Ventura Harbor, officials said the surges combined with high tide to break a dock in half, sink a 16-foot boat and break a few other boats from their moorings.

Friday afternoon on Catalina Island, swells toppled about 10 boats and loosened pier moorings.

Officials have not said how long the tsunami advisory would last.

The Coast Guard called off the search Friday for a man who was swept out to sea near Crescent City, a town of 7,500 people 20 miles south of the Oregon border. The man had been taking photographs with two friends at the mouth of the Klamath River when they were pulled into the ocean. The friends were able to swim to safety.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in four counties, citing "conditions of extreme peril to the infrastructure and the safety of the persons and properties within the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, San Mateo and Santa Cruz."

-- Sam Allen, Margot Roosevelt and Shelby Grad

Photo: In the harbor at Santa Cruz, a group of men try to save a boat that tipped over in a tsunami surge.  (Kim White / Getty Images)

Comments

[arturo espinoza]

i just hope that our authorities are prepared and able to succesfully provide the help id\f needed? it will show how much we, as a nation, have learned from the unfortunate events in this great nation's history.
Are we prepared?

[arturo espinoza]

i hope that we as a nation are ready to quickly response.

[Frank wu]

This small boat is tilt over, by strong waves over tsunami surges push. If it were tied with other boast, it would be fine. This small boat must be isolated then.

Certainly we should be prepared if we know a disaster is to come. Hence, the key is knowledge, not to fear unnecessary natural events.

This tsunami is mainly confined in NE of Japan. In CA, only Crescent City gets higher water levels. Others are affected by one ft or so water run off, not tall enough (unlikely in California) to inland.

[Pamela Joan Carter]

Santa Cruz had some problems as well as Crescent City and Oregon got hit pretty hard. The problem is, that big bad Supermoon (Spring Moon when tides are highest) isn't until March 19th and there are earthquakes and volcanos erupting all around the Pacific Rim currently. The moon on the 19th will be the highest tide ever seen. Some areas will see 10 feet above normal. Even without the tidal pushes caused by underwater and underground seismic activity, that will cause damage and flooding. So don't assume we're out of the woods yet. That and the Artic North is melting more quickly than normal, due to higher temperatures in the Great White North....which means even HIGHER normal water levels. Everything is adjusting, because water flows and seeks to be as level as possible. THAT'S why this is causing problems all over the globe. Get your small boats out of the water until after that point if you dock on a slip on the Pacific Rim. This seismic activity is due to volcanic venting and the responding tectonic shifts undeground. The epicenter of ONE of the earthquakes was SOUTH of Hawaii and the OTHER was in Japan. It's no one thing it's a combination, distilling oil WITHIN the earth's core CAN'T be helping.

[Pamela Joan Carter]

Santa Cruz had some problems as well as Crescent City and Oregon got hit pretty hard. The problem is, that big bad Supermoon (Spring Moon when tides are highest) isn't until March 19th and there are earthquakes and volcanos erupting all around the Pacific Rim currently. The moon on the 19th will be the highest tide ever seen until the 20th 21st or 22nd when Spring ad Neap Tides will run that's a day or sobehind the phase of the moon. Some areas will see 10 feet above normal. Even without the tidal pushes caused by underwater and underground seismic activity, that will cause damage and flooding. So don't assume we're out of the woods yet. That and the Artic North is melting more quickly than normal, due to higher temperatures in the Great White North....which means even HIGHER normal water levels. Everything is adjusting, because water flows and seeks to be as level as possible. THAT'S why this is causing problems all over the globe. Get your small boats out of the water until after that point if you dock on a slip on the Pacific Rim. This seismic activity is due to volcanic venting and the responding tectonic shifts undeground. The epicenter of ONE of the earthquakes was SOUTH of Hawaii and the OTHER was in Japan. It's no one thing it's a combination, distilling oil WITHIN the earth's core CAN'T be helping

[Monique]

What about all the Military Families and Bases in California. Especially San Diego?.How can we get information on our loved ones?