A small Californian coastal city, notorious for its history of tsunamis, including one that claimed 11 lives over six decades ago, experienced minimal disruption on Wednesday, as residents quickly resumed their routines under clear skies. <\/p>\n
Crescent City<\/a>, often dubbed a “tsunami magnet,” recorded waves of up to 1.22 metres (4 feet) early on Wednesday. <\/p>\n These were the highest observed anywhere in the continental United States following an 8.8-magnitude earthquake centred off Russia’s Far East hours earlier. Crucially, these were significantly smaller than the devastating 6.40-metre (21-foot) waves that struck in 1964. <\/p>\n This time, the city of 6,600 reported no injuries and no significant flooding, with its downtown area reopening later that morning. While a dock at the city\u2019s harbour sustained damage, officials swiftly issued warnings for the public to avoid beaches and waterways.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people who aren\u2019t from here did evacuate. But they ended up coming right back because nothing happened,\u201d said Rose Renee, who works at Oceanfront Lodge that looks out at the famed Battery Point Lighthouse.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Gasoline storage tanks are shown burning in the early morning hours of March 28, 1964, on the outskirts of Crescent City, Calif., after being ignited by power lines broken by the tidal wave caused by an earthquake in Alaska. (AP Photo, File) (1964 AP)<\/p>\n A surge of water lifted the dock off its pilings around 2:40 a.m., eventually submerging it, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said at a news briefing. The dock was engineered to disrupt the waves’ force before they reach the inner harbor and appears to have functioned as intended, he said.<\/p>\n Crescent City is highly susceptible to tsunamis because of an underwater ridge, just offshore, known as the Mendocino Fracture Zone. The ridge funnels tsunamis into deeper water where they pick up speed before they hit the town. Forty-one tsunamis have been observed or recorded since the first tide gauge was installed in Crescent City in 1933.<\/p>\n The oral history of local native peoples, geologic evidence and the written records of people elsewhere in the Pacific Rim<\/a> suggest that tsunamis have battered this shoreline for centuries, according to city records. <\/p>\n The 1964 event, considered the worst tsunami disaster recorded in the United States, began with a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Alaska<\/a>, according to the Crescent City website. Three small waves caused little damage, but then a big wave \u2014 nearly 21 feet (6.40 meters) \u2014 devastated 29 city blocks. <\/p>\n The quake caused 15 deaths, and the ensuing tsunami caused 124 deaths: 106 in Alaska, 13 in California<\/a> and 5 in Oregon<\/a>, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s National Centers for Environmental Information.<\/p>\n Crescent City rebuilt downtown, and today a walking tour highlights high-water marks posted on surviving buildings, objects pushed by waves and memorials to those who died. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Tsunami waves flood an area after a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, in Severo-Kurilsk, Sakhalin Region, Russia, July 30, 2025, in this still image taken from video. Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences\/Handout via REUTERS (Russian Academy of Sciences)<\/p>\n A tsunami caused by the March 2011 earthquake in Japan<\/a> killed one person in Crescent City and damaged the harbor.<\/p>\n Max Blair, a volunteer at the Del Norte Historical Society, which manages the town’s museum and historic lighthouse, said locals have tsunami drills at least once a year. When there is danger of one, cellphone notifications go out and the tsunami sirens in the town sound warnings. Resident then turn to KCRE radio for information, Blair said. <\/p>\n![\"Gasoline](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Pacific_Tsunami_Crescent_City_54782.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Tsunami](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI260585024.jpeg\")
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