Tsunami Advisory Issued for California Coastline Following Chile Quake
The tsunami advisory will remain in effect until further notice, officials say
By Willian Avila ••
All Orange County beaches and harbors will be closed overnight in response to tsunami advisory forecasting strong currents. Gadi Schwartz reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015.
A tsunami advisory was issued for the coastline from Southern to Central California following an 8.3-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Chile, according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Waves in Los Angeles County were expected to reach less than 12 inches. Waves in San Diego County were forecast to be from 4 to 8 inches, which was not enough to place the county under the tsunami advisory.
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"The greatest threat will be the very strong underwater currents that will be hazardous to swimmers and boaters," the NOAA said in a weather statement. "The strong currents will continue for several hours after the initial wave arrival. Strong currents in harbors and bays may damage docks and other coastal structures."
According to the NOAA, "tsunami advisories mean that a tsunami capable of producing strong currents or waves dangerous to persons in or very near the water is expected or is already occurring. Areas in the advisory should not expect widespread inundation. Tsunamis are a series of waves dangerous many hours after initial arrival time. The first wave may not be the largest."
In Orange County, authorities said no evacuations had been ordered and widespread inundation was not expected. However, all beaches, piers and harbors were scheduled to close at 4 a.m., with the exception of Dana Point Harbor closing earlier at 2 a.m., due to strong currents. A tsunami less than a foot high was expected in Newport Beach at 4:46 a.m.
Residents with questions about the tsunami can call the Orange County Emergency Operations Center's public information hotline at 714-628-7085.
Officials in Los Angeles County, including the Office of Emergency Management, said in a news release they were monitoring the situation in coordination with state emergency officials.
In Los Angeles County, no evacuations were ordered for the coastal areas, according to the Office of Emergency Management. Fishermen, beachgoers and visitors were advised to stay clear of the jetties, beaches and harbor areas, according to a news release.
Los Angeles County residents and visitors were advised to call 211 for more information, according to a news release from the Office of Emergency Management.
The powerful temblor hit off Chile's northern coast Wednesday night, causing buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago and prompting authorities to issue a tsunami advisory for the Andean nation's coast and Hawaii.
Officials reported one death in a town north of the capital and heavy waves and some flooding in a handful of coastal cities.
AP
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1994 file photo, Interstate 10, the Santa Monica Freeway, split and collapsed over La Cienega Boulevard following the Northridge quake in the predawn hours in Los Angeles. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Eric Draper, File)
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FILE - This Jan. 17, 1994 file photo shows bricks and debris surrounding a building housing Ara's Pastry on Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, following the Northridge earthquake. Twenty-five years ago this week, on Jan. 17, 1994, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Rene Macura, File)
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FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1994, file photo, the covered body of Los Angeles Police Officer Clarence Wayne Dean lies near his motorcycle which plunged off the State Highway 14 overpass that collapsed onto Interstate 5, after a magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)
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FILE - This Feb. 14, 1994 file photo shows California State University, Northridge students walking past a parking structure at the Los Angeles campus that collapsed in the Jan. 17 earthquake. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
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FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1994 file photo, gas from a ruptured supply line burns as water from a broken water main floods Balboa Boulevard in the Granada Hills area of Los Angeles. The fire from the gas main destroyed two homes, right. Twenty-five years ago this week, the violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)
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FILE - This Jan. 17, 1994 file photo shows California State Route 118 in Simi Valley, Calif., that collapsed during the Northridge earthquake. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
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FILE - This Feb. 16, 1994 file photo shows the Northridge Meadows apartment complex in which 16 people died when the upper floors collapsed onto the so-called soft story ground floor. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. At 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994, a hidden fault lurking under the city’s San Fernando Valley neighborhoods unleashed a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
AP
FILE - This Jan. 17, 1994 file photo shows a portion of the Bullock's department store in Los Angeles' Northridge Fashion Center that collapsed in the Northridge earthquake. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
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With help from a friend, Tigran Daniyelyan (L) carries his television from his apartment complex that was destroyed by the Northridge earthquake. Officials are placing the death toll at 28. (TIM CLARY/AFP/GettyImages)
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A Santa Monica apartment building was destroyed by the Northridge earthquake in 1994 (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)
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Aeria view of wrecked cars littered the connector ramp from Interstate 5 to Highway 14 following the Northridge earthquake, on Jan. 17, 1994, in Northridge, California. (CARLOS SCHIEBECK/AFP/Getty Images)
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The 5 Freeway and 14 Freeway interchange was split in half after the earthquake struck.
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Just hours after the quake struck, a good Samaritan in the city of San Fernando began evacuating neighbors in a school bus.
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Fireballs erupted from a ruptured gas line, and streets flooded from a water main break at Rinaldi Street and Balboa Boulevard in Granada Hills.
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A law enforcement officer is killed when the 14 Freeway collapsed near the quake.
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Houses caught fire and were captured by NBC4 helicopter footage around 8:16 a.m. on the day of the quake.
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President Clinton speaks on television just less than six hours after the Northridge earthquake struck. "We intend to do everything we possibly can to help the people ofnLos Angeles and Southern California to deal with the earthquake and its aftermath," Clinton said.
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A 64-car freight train carrying hazardous material derailed in the Chatsworth/Northridge area. The footage was captured about 9:30 a.m.
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Dozens of emergency room patients waited for treatment in the Granada Hills Community Hospital parking lot around 10 a.m., about six hours after the quake shook the area.
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NBC4's Conan Nolan holds up a seismograph reading of the magnitude 6.6 earthquake. The quake was officially named "Northridge Earthquake" several hours after it struck.
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Fire crews spent hours trying to rescue a man from a collapsed Northridge parking structure. Crews lowered airbags to lift the rubble. Salvador Pena was eventually was rescued and survived the deadly quake.
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Firefighters battled a blaze at a home on Normandie Avenue north of Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard around 1:50 p.m.
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Several cars were crushed when an apartment building collapsed in Sherman Oaks.
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An influx of drivers crowded the Arco station at Sherman Way and Balboa Boulevard around 3:45 p.m. trying to get gas to leave the area.
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Panicked residents cleared water, food and other supplies from the shelves of a Ralph's supermarket in Panorama City.
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Fire crews battled an intense fire in Granada Hills around 6 p.m.
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The 10 Freeway at La Cienega buckled as a result of the earthquake that struck Northridge around 4:30 a.m.
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Police permitted some 1,000 residents to camp at a park on 1st Stree and Park Avenue in San Fernando after the destruction caused by the Northridge Earthquake.
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A destroyed apartment building near the epicenter of the Northridge earthquake in 1994 (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)
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An overpass collapsed on the 10 Freeway in the Northridge/Reseda area at the epicenter of the earthquake (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images).
Getty Images
A man bicycled through a flooded road Jan. 17, 1994 caused by the Northridge earthquake in the greater Los Angeles. The Northridge earthquake was the first earthquake to strike directly under an urban area of the United States since the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
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Pedestrians walked along a flooded road caused by the Northridge earthquake. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
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Smashed cars were stranded by the collapsed Interstate 5 connector just a few hours after Northridge earthquake in Sylmar, California. Federal officials said freeways suffered at least $100 million in damage. (JONATHAN NOUROK/AFP/Getty Images)
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Firemen carried a janitorial worker who was rescued from a collapsed garage at the Northridge Mall after the earthquake. (DENIS POROY/AFP/Getty Images)
Alex Matthews
A rescue worker sits on curb in front of the heavily-damaged Northridge Meadows Apartments after a 14th body was removed following Northridge earthquake. (CHRIS WILKINS/AFP/Getty Images)
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A resident and a cameraman looked at damage to the Kaiser Permanente Building following the Northridge earthquake. (HAL GARB/AFP/Getty Images)
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A car at a Mazda dealership was crushed in the Northridge earthquake. (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)
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At night, a gas main on fire throws flames into the air after it broke and exploded destroying nearby homes following the Northridge earthquake. There were a total of 466 fires reported on Jan. 17, three of them simultaneously broke out immediately following the earthquake and were due of the rupture of natural gas valves and/or mains. (HAL GARB/AFP/Getty Images)
LA City Emergency Management Department
A view of the collapsed 5 Freeway connector Jan. 17, 2019 in Sylmar following the Northridge earthquake.
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A demolished building at Olympic Blvd after the Northridge earthquake in 1994 (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)
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An apartment building burned as a result of the Northridge earthquake. (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)
