Crescent City, CA and Pacific Coast Experience Tsunami

By James Sheldon on March 11th, 2011

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(An image from the tsunami pushing ashore in Japan)

No world nation will experience the devastation of the recent tsunami that Japan has and is, however, waves have pushed across the globe to affect the North American west coast.

The most significant strike in terms of wave damage has occurred/is occurring in Crescent City, CA, which is nestled into what I like to call the “Redwood District.” Located in northern California, Crescent City is just south of the California, Oregon border and serves at the northernmost coastal point in the state.

The damage in Crescent City has been preliminarily reported as significant, including damage to all boats in the harbor, as well as damage to docks, piers and marinas. Fortunately, the people of Crescent City are well aware of the threat of tsunami’s in their geographic neighborhood and understand where to go and what to avoid.

Having the luxury of hearing some of the most brilliant scientific minds via local news–Caltech, US Geological Survey–it’s fascinating to hear them speak succinctly about what we should expect here on the west coast. Many are under the impression that a tsunami hits, pushes the tidal wave ashore, and then recedes. In actuality, they push inland, and continue to push and can continue with unpredictability.

As I write, another 5.0 aftershock has occurred in Japan. It is being reported the island of Honshu has shifted a complete 8 feet east due to the deep ground displacement of the first and most significant quake of 8.9. The 8.9 quake lasted for 5 minutes!

Additional damage has been reported in the area of Santa Cruz, CA. Here in the Greater Los Angeles area, several people are congregating around shorelines in Santa Monica and Malibu as well as south lying beach cities to see if there are any residual effects of waves pushing ashore. At present, we’re pressing toward high tide anyway, so yes, there’s a chance that even this far south something may happen. There have been signs of water recession, which is the indicator that something could happen. Fortunately, the geological structure of the California coast will minimize any damage from a smaller 2-4 foot tidal wave.