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# Quake prompts tsunami jitters
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/quake-prompts-tsunami-jitters/
- Published: 2005-06-25T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:17:37.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Eureka tsunami reached 1 centimeter high*

EUREKA, Calif. — A major earthquake that recently struck off the state’s northern coast might have caused fear among some seaside residents that a tsunami could have been quick to follow, leaving them with little time to react to a potentially devastating scenario.

Santa Monica emergency officials said they kept their eyes pointing west following a series of quakes that rocked the West Coast in recent weeks. In addition to tracking the quake developments, officials are stepping up efforts to provide information to residents so they remain abreast of giant waves that might — or might not — follow quakes.

The most powerful temblor of late shook the Pacific at approximately 3 a.m., Wednesday, June 15\. It occurred 85 miles northwest of Eureka, Calif., according to the Scientists at the Survey, along with those associated with the National Weather Service and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, are the front line in determining the severity of quakes and their possible aftermath. Depending on the size and location of the quake, state, county and municipal emergency groups are to be notified if a tsunami watch is in effect for their areas, according to Santa Monica officials.

“The way the system is designed, information flows from the federal to the state level to our local police dispatch,” said Paul Weinberg, Santa Monica’s emergency services coordinator. “Scientists determine if a threat exists.”

Within two hours of the 7.4 magnitude quake, the U.S. Geological Survey Web site — which is one of the federal Web sites continuously updated with earthquake and tsunami information — posted a message that indicated “no waves have been detected.”

Judy Rambeau, city spokeswoman, said the Santa Monica Fire Department is working on developing the final touches to a tsunami response plan with the county and region. The fire and police departments are also working with the hotels on the beach and businesses on the Santa Monica Pier to develop a local plan.

“The recent tsunami warning that caused some confusion up and down the western coast of the U.S. was an early use of a national warning system that gave jurisdictions a safe opportunity to make sure their tsunami prep plans were in order,” Rambeau said.

Scientists said the “tsunami” created by the recent earthquake off the coast of Eureka — a city approximately 650 miles from Santa Monica — had a height of 1 centimeter. This is in some ways typical. The Dec. 26 Sumatra Tsunami, started by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and which devastated coastal communities along the Indian Ocean hundreds of miles away, also started as a small wave, scientists said.

However, as the tsunami travels, it is capable of gaining size, depending on a myriad of ocean and tectonic factors, scientists said.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica officials said they have been responding to the tsunami warnings caused by recent quakes by keeping an eye on the coast.

“We were monitoring the situation from the onset,” said Santa Monica Fire Department Chief Jim Hone. “We were in contact with LA County lifeguards, and there were watchers all along the coast of California, so if there was any activity that would have occurred, we would have had a couple of hours warning.

“We saw no activity which caused no further escalation of the initial alert.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 25, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)