What to know about Tsunami Advisory in effect for Bay Area coastline after Russia earthquake
SAN FRANCISCO -- The National Tsunami Warning Center has issued a Tsunami Advisory for the California Coast on Tuesday evening, including coastal areas spanning from Mendocino to Monterey counties.
LIVE UPDATES: Tsunami Advisory in effect for Bay Area, waves hit CA coast after massive 8.8 quake
Previously, the center had issued a Tsunami Watch, which was issued around 5:54 p.m. An advisory means that a tsunami capable of producing strong currents or dangerous waves is expected or already occurring.
The center issued the advisory after an 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russian's Kamchatka Peninsula on Tuesday afternoon.
Waves may already be getting increasingly large or high right now, the weather service said.
RELATED: Tsunami watch issued for West Coast after 8.7 magnitude earthquake strikes near Russia
"Areas in the advisory should not expect widespread inundation. Tsunamis are a series of waves dangerous many hours after initial arrival time," the weather service said. "The first wave may not be the largest."
Officials say the first waves are expected to hit San Francisco around 12:40 a.m. and are estimated to be less than a foot.
The advisory includes the San Francisco Bay Area, including Sonoma, Napa, Larkspur, Vallejo, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Monterey and other ocean and bayside communities.
The center will upgrade the Tsunami Advisory to a Tsunami Warning if a tsunami is imminent.
ABC7 News meteorologist Sandhya Patel has latest on Tsunami Advisory
A tsunami can result in widespread, sudden flooding of beaches, harbors and coastal areas.
If a Tsunami Warning is issued, people should stay out of the water and away from beaches and waterways, the National Weather Service said. People should move off beaches and out of harbors and go as high or as far inland as possible.
Tsunami alerts can be monitored at https://tsunami.gov/.
Evacuation warning in Monterey County
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office issued an evacuation warning to all persons living aboard vessels in the Moss Landing area on Tuesday night and the city of Monterey has issued evacuation warnings for all persons living aboard vessels in the Monterey Harbor slips and mooring areas, including Breakwater Cove, Coast Guard Pier, and adjacent areas.
A tsunami is expected to reach the Monterey County coastline at 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Sheriff's Office said individuals should seek other lodging arrangements for the duration of the tsunami advisory for California Coastal counties.
The evacuation warnings are for people in zones MRY-B040, MRY-B050, MNT-A032-B, and MNT-A026-B.
Residents and visitors are advised to remain out of the water and away from beaches and harbors until local officials declare it safe to return.
According to the Monterey Police Department, hotels along the coast and wharves were notified to make sure their guests remain off beaches and away from the coastline. Given the distance away from the initial earthquake that triggered the tsunami, experts expect stronger than normal wave action that can also cause rip tides.
Beaches closed in San Francisco
Beaches are closed on this Tuesday night in San Francisco. We're told rangers are out and keeping people off the beach and out of the water. At night, it's a bit easier to do that. We did talk with those with the USGS and San Francisco emergency crews about what we're dealing with.
Eric Geist, USGS: "At this point there is definitely a tsunami coming in. It's a pretty good size tsunami. But 'advisory' right now means people in the water, near the water, near coastal waterways, should get out of the water in my opinion."
J.R. Stone: "If it's a Tsunami Advisory, and if it were to stay that way, I guess the focus would be stay off the beach, stay out of the water, but if it's an Advisory Warning that could lead to possible evacuations?"
Geist: "That's correct, that's correct. Crescent City is the big spot in California. They always get the big Tsunami's there. Santa Cruz harbor, like you said, is of concern. You know as well as places farther south of Avila Beach. In the Bay there still might be something, you know. It gets pretty attenuated as it goes through the Golden Gate, you know, but on the outer coast, anywhere on the outer coast I would be really careful.
Stone: "In San Francisco is there a spot that you know, for you folks is more concerning than others? Whether that be a spot that's inside the Bay, or a spot along the coastline?"
Mary Ellen Carroll, San Francisco Department of Emergency Management: "Yeah, you know, the areas that we're most concerned about is anything on the water. I would say that on the ocean side it's really folks that are going out recreationally. There's surf, kite surf, swim. What happens in the Bay is there's somewhat of a bathtub effect that, you see and meaning that you know, the water will shift around and so there's danger to those boats and other vessels that are on the water."
Conditions could change but in San Francisco, they are still expecting waves of a foot or less. Also it could stay that way for between 24 and 36 hours.
Berkeley asking residents to secure boats
The city of Berkeley is advising residents with boats to secure them Tuesday night due to the tsunami advisory affecting the California coast.
The tsunami surge is expected to arrive in San Francisco Bay at 12:40 a.m. Wednesday morning, the city said. The surge is expected to be less than 1 foot tall, but could create strong waves and currents at the Berkeley Marina.
According to the city, California has monitored this specific tsunami and has assigned Berkeley a "Phase 1," meaning that the state does not recommend evacuation of boats and docks for this event.
For people who live on their boat, the DoubleTree Hotel is offering rooms to berthers at a discounted rate of $75, the city said.
The National Tsunami Warning Center issued a Tsunami Advisory for the California Coast on Tuesday evening, including coastal areas spanning from Mendocino to Monterey counties, after an 8.8 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Russian's Kamchatka Peninsula.
Flights impacted
According to FlightAware data, at least two Bay Area flights heading to Honolulu have been diverted back to where they took off from.
United #638 took off from SFO around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday night but was diverted back and is expected to land around 10:40 p.m.
Southwest #1701 took off from San Jose International around 4:45 p.m. but was diverted back after making it more than halfway to Hawaii. That flight is expected to land around 11 p.m.
ABC7 News is working to confirm if both those flights were diverted due to the Tsunami Warning in effect for all of Hawaii.
ABC7 News reporter J.R. Stone contributed to this report.
