Tsunami preparedness. (OsideNews file graphic)
Effects from earthquake-generated tsunami waves were light at Oceanside Harbor early July 30 after an 8.8-magnitude temblor struck near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia.
The harbor and other San Diego County coastal areas were on alert for the arrival of waves starting after about 1 a.m. The quake struck at 4:25 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on July 29. Tsunami warnings of various degrees were issued from British Columbia south to the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as Hawaii and the Alaska Aleutian Islands.
Oceanside marine safety personnel took piling measurements at about 2 a.m. and observed an approximate 1-foot rise at the mean tide and then a 1-foot drop, according to Lt. Blake Faumuina of the Oceanside Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division Marine Safety Unit.
“So nothing significant,” Faumuina said. “Most of our boaters didn’t even notice it the next morning. It was more or less like a tidal change every 20 minutes at about a foot; foot up and a foot down.”
Shifting water behavior in the harbor posed a minor navigational challenge for boaters, he said.
“There was some moving water within the harbor, inside the marina kind of draining out and then filling back up again, which affected a little bit of our boaters just driving through,” Faumuina said. “But nothing honestly significant. Nothing happened, we had no damage.”
Even though the tsunami effects were ultimately negligible, San Diego County Office of Emergency Services and Oceanside marine and fire safety authorities took precautions given the dynamic situation.
City officials were given updates and data from the county as marine safety personnel monitored local waters.
“That evening, we had two boats out in the harbor doing just dock inspections, going up and down making sure people had secure moorings; anybody that was staying the night on their boat or the live-aboards were at least given some information about what we were expecting,” Faumuina said. “It was kind of dynamic, so we were waiting on every call from the county.”
The city and county have established protocols for tsunami events.
“You always want to prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Faumuina said.
Roman S. Koenig is the publisher and editor of OsideNews and the North Coast Current.
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