Tsunami Surge Sinks Boats in Catalina Harbor

The National Weather Service is reporting tsunami-induced damage in many places along the West Coast as a result of the quake in Japan. At least seven boats capsized in Catalina Harbor on the west side of Catalina Island because of surging waves caused by the Japan earthquake and resulting tsunami, but there were no reports of any injuries.

A Tsunami Advisory from the National Weather Service continued in effect Friday night from Alamitos Bay to the Douglas-Lane county line in Oregon. A Tsunami Advisory is issued by the NWS when, it says, "a tsunami capable of producing strong currents or waves dangerous to persons in or very near the water is expected. Significant widespread inundation is not expected for areas under an advisory but currents may be hazardous to swimmers, boats and coastal structures, and may continue for several hours after the initial wave arrival."

Crescent City, Calif., reported significant damage and there was also damage in Ventura Harbor. Several other sites have reported strong currents with boats and buoys damaged.

The City of Long Beach issued a statement Friday evening saying that no damage had yet been reported but that there were surges of 10 to 12 inches in the Downtown Marina.  (See time-lapse photos of Long Beach's Rainbow Harbor, just outside of the Aquarium of the Pacific, during the time of the tsunami's tidal effects at http://yfrog.com/gzbl9dj.)

It also said that all city operations had returned to normal. 

According to the National Weather Service, three boats in Catalina Harbor sank and a section of the pier was damaged.

The ocean water level along the Los Angeles County coast dropped about 18 inches below normal low-tide levels this morning, as coastline residents were . And the Port of Long Beach suspended the loading of hazardous materials, although other port operations were unaffected. 

The U.S. Coast Guard reported being in contact since last night with the oil drilling platforms along the coast and that none have reported damage. "We suspended all hazardous material transfers in the local ports since early this morning as a precaution.  I don't think as of right now we've allowed those operations to get back underway," said Petty Officer First Class Adam T. Eggers, a Coast Guard spokesman, on Friday afternoon.

Authorities had advised people to stay out of the water and off the beaches, although some people went there anyway to check out the action--or lack thereof. Though the National Weather Service issue a Tsunami Advisory and the City of Long Beach issued one, as well, that said it was closing beaches and marinas, sailboats could be observed inside and outside the Long Beach breakwater at the time when the first tidal effects of the tsunami were expected to arrive Friday morning. And, as usual on a sunny day, there were bicyclists, runners and walkers on Belmont Shore beaches, and by the afternoon, kite boarders. 

In Seal Beach, about  at by 9 a.m. to watch for the tsunami, according to a fire authority estimate. 

A Los Angeles County sheriff's patrol boat and a Baywatch boat patrolled the harbor at Malibu, the region's largest recreational harbor, as a precaution, and King Harbor in Redondo Beach, already beset by a calamitous fish die-off, did not suffer any tsunami damage either, a spokesman there said.

The Japanese quake caused a 6.5 foot tsunami at Crescent City, about 800 miles north of Los Angeles, and 6 feet high at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant near Morro Bay, Jones said.

At Zuma Beach, the tide did not begin to come in, but appeared to recede further. By 9 a.m., a strip of sandy ocean bottom about an additional 10 to 15 feet of sandy ocean floor was exposed.

City News Service contributed to this report.