Southern California is under the tsunami clock after a major earthquake off the Russian coast, but history shows that Angeleno is unlikely to see towering water walls.
As detailed by the Oceanside Fire Station, an equally powerful earthquake off the coast of Chile in 1960 created the “most important remote tsunami” struck Southern California in recorded history.
That Quake “created a tsunami, causing four-foot waves in Santa Monica and Port Huneme, causing major damage to the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.”
In recent history, the eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Hapai, an uninhabited volcanic island near Tonga, created a tsunami in early 2022.
The tsunami was the first to flood California land since 1964, but the surge affected the northern part of California, not southern.
Images from the California Department of Conservation show dock lamps damaged by the tsunami at Ventura Port on January 15, 2022.
The 2022 tsunami also primarily affected Northern California, but “adjusted peak hot conditions” and caused “severe damage” to ports in Ventura and elsewhere.
In Los Angeles, the maximum wave height was about 1.3 feet.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only one person has died since 2006 as a result of the California tsunami, and that death occurred in Northern California.
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