SANTA MONICA/MALIBU—From March 25 to March 31 Tsunami Preparedness Week will take place statewide in California.
Tsunamis are large waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. The West Coast of the United Sates is one of 12 regions identified as being vulnerable to tsunamis by the National Weather Service. Seventy-eight of those vulnerable areas lie within the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ring of Fire is the most volcanically and seismically active zone on Earth.
Over 150 tsunamis have struck California since the year 1800. Earthquakes in Japan in 2011 caused the last tsunamis in California that year. These tsunamis caused damage in multiple areas statewide including one death where a 25 year-old man was swept to sea in Del Norte County in Northern California.
A 1964 tsunami caused by an earthquake in Prince William Sound, Alaska killed 128 people, 11 of those deaths occurred in Crescent City, California. That tsunami also destroyed 129 city blocks in the city.
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck California in 2005 and a major tsunami warning was put in place although no tsunamis occurred..
For more information visit https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/tsunami/maps or email the office of emergency management at OEM@santamonica.gov.
Virtual lectures and details on how to prepare for a tsunami can be found using the following link: https://www.tsunamizone.org/knowyourzone/.
