Tiny surges do no damage

The harbor was lit up Tuesday night, but no tsunami materialized. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

But at 11:15 p.m., as the water near the mouth of the inner boat basin started bubbling like a river current from an incoming surge, anxiety was replaced with laughter and relief at the underwhelming spectacle.

According to Del Norte County’s Emergency Services Manager Cindy Henderson, this was the pinnacle of Tuesday night’s tsunami and it only reached a height of about 16 centimeters, or about 6 inches.

“It was pretty uneventful, which is good,” she said.

Even though the water level inside the inner boat basin rose and fell by more than 18 inches throughout the night, no damage was reported in the harbor as a result of the surges.

Several boats had left the harbor by 10 p.m., prompted by a tsunami advisory issued hours earlier, and crews were waiting aboard several others to see what the evening held.

Hours earlier, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had issued a tsunami advisory along the California and Oregon coasts after a strong earthquake shook the Samoa Islands in the South Pacific and wave surges there killed at least 99 people.

The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of a 26-inch “amplitude above sea level” in Crescent City, which it noted was “at special risk.”

Researchers have found that the crescent shape of the city’s coastline along South Beach tends to amplify tsunami energy, and with the way the harbor is situated, it seems to act as a funnel for the surge. More recent research has suggested the inner boat basin adds to this effect, and focuses a tsunami’s energy even more.

This was seen the last time a tsunami struck Crescent City in November 2006. On that occasion, a 35-inch surge that never breached land caused millions of dollars worth of damage to the inner boat basin.

In 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Alaska generated a series of waves that destroyed much of Crescent City’s downtown, killing 11 people in Del Norte County.

The area’s tsunami-rich history wasn’t lost on its residents and visitors Tuesday night. Even away from the harbor, groups of people watched the surf from viewpoints around town.

The harbor glowed from the lights of emergency vehicles and boats being prepared for possible get-aways.

“If you get it out of the harbor, it’s not like a wave, it just kind of rolls over,” said commercial fisherman John Ludwig, who was aboard a friend’s boat, The Outlaw.

Ludwig seemed to share the sentiment of many fishermen at the harbor Tuesday night. They didn’t think much was going to happen, but they knew enough about Crescent City’s history to not underestimate the power of the Pacific.

“I heard it wasn’t going to be anything, but I figured I was just going to check it out anyway,” Ludwig said.