Boaters hit Santa Cruz waters as tsunami advisory lifts
Boaters hit Santa Cruz waters as tsunami advisory lifts
For both people and wildlife in Santa Cruz, big weather events are nothing new, but a tsunami advisory after an earthquake nearly5,000 miles away is a little less common. When similar events it happened in 2011 and 2022, it left a big mess behind in Santa Cruz.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - It was back to business as usual for boaters in Santa Cruz Harbor on Wednesday after California's tsunami advisory was canceled.
The advisory kept harbor officials busy as they worked to keep the community informed overnight.
The Santa Cruz Harbor port director told KTVU the area did not get hit as badly this time as it did in 2011 and 2022.
For both people and wildlife in Santa Cruz, big weather events are nothing new, but a tsunami advisory after an earthquake nearly 5,000 miles away is a little less common. When similar events happened in 2011 and 2022, it left behind a big mess in Santa Cruz.
Erik Andreassen owns and operates The Big Anchovy fishing guide service in Santa Cruz. He says he's seen several alerts for tsunamis in the area.
"We’ve been getting some tsunami warnings the past few years, and a lot of them taper out to not too much," Andreassen said.
Santa Cruz Harbor officials say even if the water seems calm, there are still risks.
"Even with [the advisory] being lifted, there’s still hazardous marine conditions out there, strong surges, [and] kind of unpredictable ocean conditions," Holland MacLaurie, Santa Cruz's port director.
Those out on the water Wednesday said it was a little choppy, but not too bad.
For Andreassen and his friend Tom Burns from Long Island, N.Y., the windy weather brought in a chunk of good luck. Thirty-five pounds of good luck, as a matter of fact.
"It was honestly a slower bite until we landed these two back-to-back and that was a bit of a pleasant surprise," Andreassen said, holding up the fish he caught.
Andreassen says he heeds emergency warnings, but they can be hard to trust when several are sent out each year.
"Sometimes it’s just overblown a bit. It is what it is. It’s just the nature of the thing, obviously it’s better to be safe than sorry, so I get it," he said.
But those in Santa Cruz who witnessed hundreds of millions of dollars in damage from the 2011 and 2022 tsunamis know that safety alerts can make all the difference.
"Fortunately, this event, we did not sustain as much damage as we did in 2011 or 2022," MacLaurie said. "We’re still assessing. The surge is continuing to persist today. We’re just monitoring for any additional impacts."
SF assesses tsunami alerts
The tsunami advisory that impacted the Bay Area shoreline was lifted late Wednesday morning after a powerful earthquake struck Russia's eastern seaboard.