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Myspace[Information provided by County Emergency Services]
The Tsunami Warning area north of Point Conception does not have any population centers within identified tsunami inundation hazard zones. County beach parks along the west coast of Santa Barbara have been closed. All other inland areas in Santa Barbara County are considered to be safe.
SB County
Santa Barbara County Tsunami map, March 11, 2010
In the Tsunami Advisory area south of Point Conception, there are no populated areas off the beach that are considered to be at risk based on the information that we have. However, residents and visitors in Santa Barbara County are being advised not to enter the water and are further advised to stay away from beaches until the “all clear” has been given by the California Emergency Management Agency.
Please remain patient and be vigilant by following your local media outlets and instructions issued by local emergency officials, especially if you live or work within a recognized tsunami inundation hazard zone.
For residents and visitors who are concerned about whether or not they are located within a recognized tsunami inundation hazard zone, regional maps can be found at this County web page [Note: the County Webpage is loading very slowly due to traffic and image sizes of documents]
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Emergency Officials Monitoring Tsunami Risks and Tidal Situation
[OES Update, 10:15am] Following the 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Japan, and subsequent Tsunami Warnings for the California coast, officials from the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services (OES) remind local residents of the continuing risks associated with rapid tidal fluctuations and to avoid beaches and low lying area near beach fronts as strong currents and tidal surges can be extremely dangerous.
According to Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol there have been tidal surges in the harbor and boat traffic being directed accordingly. The National Weather Service has determined that strong tidal fluctuations and surges are likely to occur until late this evening and beaches should be avoided for the re mainder of the day. Tidal fluctuations and surges may be more severe than the original surge seen early this morning. No damage has been reported as of 10:15am.
The primary areas of concern are North of Point Conception as they have the greatest exposure to the tidal fluctuations. The Office of Emergency Services recommends people avoid beach front parks and low lying areas near beach front areas in anticipation of continued tidal surges.
Related Links
- Link to County map (larger) [ March 11, 2011 ]
- Office of Emergency Services webpage [ March 11, 2011 ]
- National Weather Service [ March 11, 2011 ]
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Comments
A seven-meter tsunami wave like the one that hit northeast Japan is a rare (100 year?) event. What would this scale of event look like in Santa Barbara? Here is an image from the lightblueline project (7 meters is also the amount of sea level rise in the Greenland ice sheet). The map shows inundation to the current seven-meter elevation in the city. The data are from a high-resolution digital elevation model from UCSB.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightblu...
bcaron (anonymous profile)
March 12, 2011 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Unfortunately, inundation from a 7m-tsunami wave is unlikely to look anything like the image from the lightblueline project. The amplitude of the tsunami wave (from a given earthquake) is controlled by a number of factors, most important of which is the near shore bathymetry (curvature of the seafloor near the coast). A single earthquake will produce varying tsunami wave heights in different areas, depending on the local form of the coast.
Part of the reason the cited image is inaccurate is that SB area has the somewhat added protection of the Channel Islands which serve to disrupt ocean currents from the south compared with, say, Carmel. SB is slightly vulnerable to a tsunami wave entering the SB channel from the west. However, the orientation of the SB coast, the bathymetry around SB and the presence of Point Conception to the north all result in a much reduced tsunami hazard.
The images here:
http://www.countyofsb.org/central.asp...
give the currently most accurate idea of the likely inundation from a variety of earthquake sources taking into account bathymetry. Note that this simulation includes large (M>9) earthquakes (Chile, 1960 and Alaska 1964). It is noteworthy that key infrastructure including 101, harbor, rail tracks, sewerage disposal and SB airport are all likely to be badly affected.
hilljack1 (anonymous profile)
March 14, 2011 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)