Tsunami expected to reach SF beaches tonight
By: Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer
September 29, 2009
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| Oceanographer Dr. David Walsh studies earthquake charts at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii on Oahu. A powerful Pacific Ocean earthquake spawned towering tsunami waves that swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa early Tuesday, flattening villages, killing at least 34 people and leaving dozens of workers missing at devastated National Park Service facilities. (AP) |
SAN FRANCISCO — An earthquake that struck near American Samoa and has already killed at least 34 has caused a tsunami that is expected to hit San Francisco by 9:30 p.m. tonight.
The tsunami will cause waves between 8 and 26 inches taller than they would be otherwise, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Dan Gudgel. The rough waves should last for an hour and a half, he said.
The tsunami will hit Ocean Beach just a couple hours after the 8 p.m. high tide, and between the tide and the tsunami, could cause some minor damage, Gudgel said. He said a tsunami of a similar size in 2006 caused damage on Santa Cruz’s yacht wharf.
The 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck around dawn about 20 miles deep in the ocean about 120 miles from the U.S. territory of American Samoa and brought waves of 15 to 20 feet to the island and its neighbors. In addition to the 34 confirmed deaths, dozens of workers are missing at devastated National Park Service facilities, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Danielle Couture said the Coast Guard is sending out the tsunami advisory over the radio to warn small boats. Gudgel said boats in the bay or out at sea should be fine, but unmoored vessels in shallow water could be in trouble.
Laura Adleman, public information officer for San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management, said the tsunami is not expected to be large enough to inundate coastside areas, so the department will not be using its tsunami warning system, which sounds a loud alarm through neighborhoods near the waterfront. However, she said, the department will send out an SFAlert, which is sent to residents’ cell phones by text message, to stay out of the water this evening.
Keir Beadling, Mavericks Surf Ventures CEO, said sometimes surfers are drawn to big waves caused by tsunamis or other natural events, but said few would likely be drawn into the water so late at night. He also acknowledged that the tsunami had proved deadly in the Pacific.
“It seems insignificant to talk about surf when there’s lives at stake,” he said.
kworth@sfexaminer.com
