Is there a tsunami warning in California?
No reports of tsunami damage in Monterey, Pacifica
There have been no reports of tsunami damage in Monterey and Pacifica.
MONTEREY, Calif. - After a massive earthquake struck Russia, tsunami alerts were issued for many areas, including Japan, Hawaii and California, the latter of which is nearly 5,000 miles away.
Tsunami advisory
As of Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service had a tsunami advisory - which is less than a warning – was in effect for the coastal areas of California from Rincon Point, 15 miles southeast of Santa Barbara in the south, to Humboldt/Del Norte line to the California/Oregon border in the north, which includes the San Francisco Bay.
And by 11 a.m., tsunami advisories were also canceled for much of the Bay Area coastline.
An advisory for Los Angeles was canceled.
All the alerts stemmed from an 8.8 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday in the sparsely populated Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula. Several people were injured, but none gravely, and no major damage has been reported so far.
Christina Von Hillebrandt-Andrade, deputy director of the International Tsunami Information Center, told KTVU that she expected the California advisories to end by Wednesday afternoon or possibly evening – just as long as there are "indications that there are hazardous waves."
She said people need to get off the beach and out of the water.
"There is no flooding and no evacuations," she said, but these type of tsunami waves "keep pushing inland" even if they don't look that high.
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What's the difference?
A tsunami warning means a dangerous tsunami is imminent, and you should take immediate action, like evacuating to higher ground. A tsunami advisory means people in the affected areas should get off the beach and leave harbors and marinas. A tsunami watch means a potential tsunami threat exists, and you should be prepared to take action.
Timeline: Expected tsunami arrival in the Bay Area, California and Hawaii
A tsunami advisory is the second-highest alert, under a warning, according to the NWS.
Monitoring Monterey, Pacifica, Santa Cruz
In Monterey County, for example, evacuation warnings were still in place on Wednesday as waves were still higher than normal.
And in Half Moon Bay's Pillar Point, boats jumped up and down overnight.
Despite the waves, there hasn't been much damage reported in the Bay Area.
In Santa Cruz, where there were high waves stemming from a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011, some residents were taking no chances.
"There were a lot of sunken boats," Dan Scott said. "Boats were hitting other boats. Docks were all torn up. Yeah, I just don't want to see it again. The harbor keeps getting hurt. It costs everyone a lot of money."
The NWS did not estimate when the advisory would be lifted.
More about tsunamis
Tsunami warnings and advisories were also issued for parts of Alaska and the Washington-British Columbia border. People were urged to stay away from coastlines until any wave surges passed in places as far away as Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia and Solomon Islands.
Tsunamis are waves triggered by earthquakes, underwater volcanic eruptions and submarine landslides. After an underwater earthquake, the seafloor rises and drops, which lifts water up and down. The energy from this transfers to waves.
Many people think of tsunamis as one wave.
But they are typically multiple waves that rush ashore like a fast-rising tide.
ANKARA, TURKIYE - JULY 30: An infographic titled "Tsunami alerts in Japan after 8.8 magnitude earthquake" created in Ankara, Turkiye on July 30, 2025. (Photo by Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images)