Lifeguards Give All-Clear After Tsunami Advisory
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SANTA MONICA, CA - MAY 21: Barriers warn people to stay away from a drainage that carries dangerous levels of bacteria into the ocean south of Will Rogers State Beach May 21, 2008 north of Santa Monica, California. A new annual beach report card by Heal the Bay indicates that ocean water quality has improved overall statewide - partly because lower than normal rainfall means less polluted run-off washing from storms drains - but the waters of Los Angeles County beaches remain the most bacteria-laden seawater in the state for the third straight year. Heal the Bay tests more than 500 locations on the California coast for daily and weekly fecal bacteria pollution levels. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Lifeguards have given the all-clear for visitors to return to Los Angeles County beaches following a magnitude-8.0 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa that prompted a tsunami advisory.
Los Angeles County lifeguard Capt. Terry Harvey said Wednesday morning that crews found no dangerous currents or other hazards during their night patrols. The National Weather Service allowed its tsunami warning to expire early Wednesday.
Federal experts issued a tsunami advisory for possible dangerous currents in coastal areas of California and Oregon following the quake. As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, the advisory had expired.
Experts predicted the tsunami would reach the Southern California coastline between 9 and 9:30 p.m. Pacific time. At 11 p.m. there were no reports along the Southern California coastline of abnormally large waves associated with the tsunami.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said an advisory means that a tsunami capable of producing strong currents or waves dangerous to persons in or very near the water is imminent or expected.
In American Samoa, water flowed about 100 yards inland in the U.S. territory before receding, according to local reports. A local Samoan reporter said Tuesday evening that victims "are everywhere" in a local hospital. The reporter also confirmed three or four villages on the tourist coast near the town of Lalomanu on Samoa's main island of Upolu had been "wiped out" by the tsunami.
The Samoa islands are comprised of the nation of Samoa and the U.S. territory American Samoa, with a combined population of roughly 250,000. Experts predicted the number of casualties would rise.
