LOS ANGELES – Waves linked to a tsunami have reached the California coast, according to the National Weather Service.
RELATED: Tsunami advisory issued for California after 8.8 magnitude earthquake hits Russia
What we know:
NWS said the tsunami-linked waves are showing up in Arena Cove, California, an area about 130 miles northwest of San Francisco. NWS estimates the tides could reach as high as 4.4 feet around 3 a.m.
The global tracking of the big waves comes as a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia on Tuesday, leading to tsunami alerts across the Pacific region, including California.
The earthquake happened around 4:25 p.m. PST, near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky near the Kamchatka Peninsula.
According to the USGS, the quake would be among the top 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded.
Hawaii and Japan are expecting waves as high as 10 Tuesday night. Meanwhile the entire U.S. West Coast and British Columbia were under a Tsunami Advisory.
Timeline:
The first waves are expected to hit California just before midnight Tuesday night, continuing into the early hours Wednesday morning.
Here’s a breakdown of when waves are expected to hit California, and how big they may get.
- 11:50 p.m.: Fort Bragg – 0.8-1.4 ft.
- 12:40 a.m.: San Francisco – Less than 1 ft.
- 12:15 a.m.: Monterey – Less than 1 ft.
- 12:35 a.m.: Port San Luis – 2.0-3.8 ft.
- 12:45 a.m.: Santa Barbara: 0.7-1.3 ft.
- 1 a.m.: Los Angeles: Less than 1 ft.
- 1:10 a.m.: Newport Beach: Less than 1 ft.
- 1:15 a.m.: Oceanside: Less than 1 ft.
- 1:10 a.m. La Jolla: Less than 1 ft.
What they’re saying:
Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones spoke with FOX 11 about what to expect when waves start hitting the coast.
“We need to remember that these wave heights are how much sea level goes up,” Dr. Jones said. It’s not a crashing wave like you can imagine from the beach or something, it’s rather a sudden increase in sea level.”
While the impact of the waves in Southern California is expected to be much less, Jones did point out that the time those waves are expected to hit coincide with high tide.
“However, the maximum height is much, much lower than in Hawaii,” she said. “The largest for the region is in Santa Barbara, where it’s predicted to be between one and two feet. For all the rest of Southern California it’s less than one foot.”
The Source: Information in this story is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s U.S. Tsunami Warning Center, Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, the U.S. Geological Survey and previous FOX 11 reports.