A tsunami advisory was issued for the entire California coast following an 8.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia on Tuesday afternoon, July 29.
The National Tsunami Warning Center, based in Alaska, issued a tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands and Hawaii, and an advisory — upgraded from a watch — for the West Coast, from British Columbia to the California-Mexico Border.
The earthquake occurred at 4:25 Tuesday afternoon 80 miles southwest of Petropavlovsk Kamchatka.
As the situation developed, tsunami warning sirens blared Tuesday in Honolulu and people were told to move to higher ground.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimeters (about 1 foot) reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido.
An advisory is the second-highest level of the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center’s alert system. According to the warning center, an advisory is issued as an advance notice of strong currents and waves that could endanger people in or near the water. However, the National Weather Service said: “Areas in the advisory should not expect widespread inundation.”
The center issued a list of potential start times for tsunami activity — if it occurs at all — across the state, including roughly 1:05 a.m. Wednesday for Los Angeles Harbor, 1:10 a.m. for Newport Beach and 1:15 a.m. for Oceanside and La Jolla.
Authorities are working to determine how much water displacement was caused by the earthquake, and how large the resulting waves are, National Weather Service meteorologist Sebastian Westerink said.
“Right now they’ve deemed it as threatening enough to issue a tsunami warning on Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands,” he said.
Westerink urged the public to make sure they are set up to receive alerts from the tsunami warning center.
“Watch areas may be upgraded to a warning or advisory status, or canceled, based on new information,” according to a statement from the Warning Center.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services stated that it is “monitoring any potential impacts to the state” from the quake and tsunami watch.
“A tsunami is one the most powerful and destructive natural forces. It is a series of waves (not just one) caused by a large and sudden displacement of the ocean,” says a National Weather Service background statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.