A small swell gently rocking the boats in Marina del Rey on Wednesday morning was a welcome sight following a tsunami advisory issued in the wake of a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Russia hours earlier.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in boats and helicopters were seen Tuesday night letting people in the marina area know that a tsunami watch had been upgraded to an advisory for the coastal areas of Southern California.
“You know, especially with the vast distance of the Pacific, we’re going just by a lot of the instruments out over the waters, so it’s very limited,” KTLA Meteorologist Henry DiCarlo said. “It’s not as if we’re looking at a satellite radar with a storm being up in the air. We’re talking about something surface-level, so it’s a little bit harder to get all of that information … and we always err on the side of caution.”
Tsunami alerts explained
The tsunami advisory was expected to remain in place until Saturday due to the threat of strong currents and waves, but was canceled by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials on Wednesday morning…