Tsunami warning sign
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Saturday Morning Tsunami Warning Puts Emeryville Marina Residents on Alert

1 min read

Residents of coastal communities including Emeryville were awakened to a rare Tsunami warning on Saturday. An underwater volcanic eruption near the South Pacific Islands of Tonga triggered the alert by the U.S. National Weather Service.

Berkeley issued an alert at 7:14 a.m. and The Emeryville PD followed up with a similar advisory at 7:56 a.m.

The City of Berkeley cautiously moved to evacuate their Marina live-boards while the Emeryville PD issued an alert advising residents to “take necessary safety precautions” but stopped short of any evacuation from the peninsula.

“The National Weather Service issued a Tsunami warning for the Emeryville coastline area to include the Emeryville Marina,” the Emeryville PD nixle alert read. “This warning is in effect until 9:00 am today. This weather warning indicates one foot to two feet waves are possible . Take necessary safety precautions.”

The waves generated by the Tsunami arrived early Saturday morning with the rising morning tide and continued pulsating onshore throughout the day.

Residents captured the local water surge caused by the seismic event that occurred over 5,000 miles away.

Residents captured tidal shifts and surges but no damage was reported in Emeryville or Berkeley. Santa Cruz and Tiburon harbors sustained minor flooding and damage. The damage in Tonga is still being assessed but thought to be much more significant.

“I’m happy to report there was nothing to see!” noted a resident of the Emery Cove Marina.

Berkeley lifted their emergency order at about 5 p.m.

Many residents recalled a similar alert in 2011 caused by a massive earthquake in Tōhuko, Japan. A tsunami made its way 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean and made landfall on the Emeryville shoreline. Then Gracenote employee Mark Demma captured the slow, rolling wave on YouTube that has since garnered over 2 million views.

Feature Image: USGS.gov

Rob Arias

is a third generation Californian and East Bay native who lived in Emeryville from 2003 to 2021. Rob founded The E'ville Eye in 2011 after being robbed at gunpoint and lamenting the lack of local news coverage. Rob's "day job" is as a creative professional.

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