I watched the local effects of the recent tsunami spawned by the 8.8 megaquake off the coast of Russia with a practiced eye and it played out just as I expected.
I have some experience as a boat charter captain operating on the Santa Barbara Channel for over 30 years.
Our east-west running channel, with the Channel Islands serving as something of a blockade to our south, tends to affect the characteristics of a tsunami moving through our area. I want to share what I’ve learned.
Tsunamis created by forces to our north and west, including the recent one from Russian waters, tend to create more of a back-and-forth (west-east followed by east-west) surge within the channel, rather than large waves coming directly onshore.
Still, a tsunami can have a strong effect on our harbors and inshore waters.
We tend to worry about large waves coming straight onshore and flooding low-lying areas, and if a tsunami comes from the south or southeast it could definitely happen.
Most come from west or northwest of us and generally (not necessarily always) behave differently.
Our local harbors can get very surgy during a tsunami. Boats and docks have been damaged or destroyed by previous tsunamis.
In the Santa Barbara Harbor, Santa Barbara Landing boats will move the floating bait dock further up into the harbor and secure it, when the owners feel it is wise.
Many avid boaters and professional captains take our boats out of the harbor and a mile or so out to sea before the tsunami arrives. That is because there isn’t much to bump into out there, whereas in the harbor boats and things can break loose and cause damage.
Out at sea, a tsunami will come through and move a boat 100 yards or maybe much more. Then the surge reverses and a boat moves back in the other direction again.
We ride it out and then return to the harbor when things seem to settle down.
I remember when one good size vessel was on its way out of the Santa Barbara Harbor and a tsunami arrived faster than expected (they travel at 400 to 600 mph).
The vessel operator found it necessary to steer toward the inner harbor and throttle up aggressively, then immediately reverse course and throttle way up the other way, just to stay in roughly the same spot, as the tsunami trough pulled water out of the harbor and then the wave refilled the harbor amazingly fast.
Not all tsunamis act the same, so always listen to the watches and warnings and stay prepared to head to higher ground immediately.
The Pacific Rim faults and volcanoes are alarmingly active now, so more tsunamis are likely.
