California is known for its beautiful shore, sunny beaches, and wide range of sea life. But the Golden State is also at risk of being destroyed by tsunamis, which are huge waves that happen when an earthquake, volcano erupts, or landslides under the ocean.
Tsunamis can move across the Pacific Ocean at up to 500 miles per hour. They can hit the shore without notice and cause damage, death, and floods. This piece talks about some of the worst tsunamis that have ever happened in California and how the state is getting ready for more of them.
A Tsunami Hit Cascadia in 1700
A huge earthquake hit the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 600-mile-long fault that runs from northern California to British Columbia, on January 26, 1700. This caused the longest and biggest tsunami ever recorded in California. The quake, which was thought to be between 8 and 9 on the Richter scale, sent waves as far as Japan and flooded the West Coast.
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Because it was so strong, the tsunami pushed sand and rocks up to 20 feet above sea level in some places and broke up hills and trees along the coast. Europeans didn’t write down anything about it at the time, but experts have pieced it together from rocks, Native American stories, and Japanese records of the waves that hit their shores later that day.
The Tsunami of 1812 in Santa Barbara
In the Santa Barbara Channel, off the coast of southern California, on December 21, 1812, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2. The earthquake caused a tsunami in the area that flooded and damaged low-lying parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Ships close were also hit by the waves, and some were tossed inland or sank.
Some Spanish preachers saw the wave and wrote about it in their diaries. One of them wrote, “At 10 o’clock, the sea rose to an unbelievable height, and its terrible noise could be heard from a long way away.” When it hit the beach, it was so strong that it picked up some boats that were on the shore and took them to the houses, breaking some and leaving others on the roofs.
A tsunami hit Alaska in 1946
A magnitude 8.6 earthquake happened in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on April 1, 1946. It caused a trans-Pacific tsunami that hit many coastal areas, including California. In some places, the waves were up to 20 feet high, which caused floods, erosion, and damage to buildings and infrastructure. Also, 165 people died in the tsunami.
Most of them were in Hawaii and Alaska, but some were also in California. Half Moon Bay, a small town on the Central Coast, was one of the worst hit. The water rose about 1,000 feet inland and destroyed homes, businesses, and fields. The tsunami also did damage to Santa Cruz’s harbor. Boats were smashed and docks were torn apart.
The tsunami that hit on Good Friday, 1964
A magnitude 9.2 earthquake, the second-biggest ever recorded, hit the Prince William Sound of Alaska on March 28, 1964. This caused the worst tsunami in U.S. history. The earthquake caused a huge tsunami that hit the Pacific and affected places along the coast from Alaska to California. In some places, the waves were up to 220 feet high killed many people, and damaged a lot of places.
It was thought that 131 people died, mostly in Alaska but also in Oregon and California. In California, Crescent City, a small port town near the Oregon border, 11 people were killed and 289 houses were damaged or destroyed.
It was the worst-hit town. The waves went up to 2 miles inland and flooded almost 30 city blocks. A lot of damage was done to other seaside towns by the wave as well, like Santa Cruz, Morro Bay, and San Francisco.
The Tohoku Tsunami of 2011
There was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Tohoku area of Japan on March 11, 2011, which caused the most recent big wave to hit California. About 18,000 people were killed by the wave, which was caused by the earthquake. The Fukushima Daiichi power plant also had a nuclear breakdown. The wave also went across the Pacific, and about 10 hours later, it hit the coast of California.
While not as high as the waves in Japan, they still caused strong currents and surges that hurt boats, ports, and other things along the coast. A guy was killed by the tsunami. He was taking pictures at the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County when the waves came and swept him away. Millions of dollars were lost because docks, piers, and ships were destroyed in Crescent City and Santa Cruz, which had the most damage.
Final Words
California is always at risk of deadly tsunamis because of the way its rocks are formed. Historical events like the Cascadia earthquake in 1700, the Santa Barbara tsunami in 1812, and the Alaskan tsunamis in 1946 and 1964 show how vulnerable the state is. As we saw with the 2011 Tohoku wave, it’s important to take precautions based on past events. This shows how important it is to always be alert and ready.