The Bay Area was rocked by a tsunami this weekend after an underwater volcano erupted near Tonga Saturday morning. The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for the entire west coast of the US, including the Bay Area. The tsunami arrived at high tide Saturday morning around 8am and brought widespread flooding throughout the rest of the day, though evacuation orders and warnings were lifted by Saturday afternoon.
The arriving tsunami will come in pulses of surging water levels onto and off of the coast, similar to “high tide”. Do not expect to identify these arriving pulses by large cresting waves/surf.
These water level surges can overwhelm and overtake people and pull them out to sea.
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 15, 2022
Bay Area fire departments, sheriffs’ offices, and the Coast Guard spent the day patrolling high-risk areas including San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, to ensure that onlookers kept a safe distance. Check out these videos from the weekend for a glimpse of the tsunami in action in the Bay Area.
I’ll 🧵#tsunami footage here
First up: the massive set that kissed my front door – these waves are no joke and still rolling in. Some even bigger. #tongatsunami #tsunamialert #CAex pic.twitter.com/9SwkHa4EVa
— Savannah 💉💉💉Savvy✨Peterson (@SavIsSavvy) January 15, 2022
Tsunami Warning Ocean Beach #TsunamiAdvisory #oceanbeach #sanfrancisco #sffd #tongavolcano #PacificOcean pic.twitter.com/qNi0913V5Q
— Jamy Donaldson (@goofyfooter) January 15, 2022
Volcano erupts in Tonga; Tsunami warning on U.S. West Coast including San Francisco Bay. We are all connected and affected by nature. Stay safe! pic.twitter.com/08AARPBI06
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) January 15, 2022
Soquel Creek in Santa Cruz flowing *backwards* because of a tsunami 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JxFsllhhdX
— robwormald (@robwormald) January 15, 2022
Tsunami energy arriving at Del Monte Beach. Wave run up onto the beach is impressive. I’m safely distanced, but I saw other folks have to scramble when the waves unexpectedly reached them. Follow @NWSBayArea for #tsunami safety info. pic.twitter.com/JRl2XsTftI
— Brooke Bingaman (@BrookeBingaman) January 15, 2022
Here is a photo of the SFfD rescue swimmers. They were performing some VERY dangerous rescues today. The SFFD rescue swimmers and first responders along the coast are asking people to stay out of the ocean today! @NWSBayArea @GGNRANPSAlerts @SF_emergency @nbcbayarea @SFFDPIO pic.twitter.com/BHn6PJFZgr
— John Zuchelli (@tvzuke) January 16, 2022
Scary moments for neighbors in Tiburon after #tsunami surge rips boat dock from building, casting it adrift. @LiveDoppler7 pic.twitter.com/2qCO46kIHE
— Cornell Barnard (@CornellBarnard) January 15, 2022
From a friend at Santa Cruz Harbor @NWSBayArea @Weather_West pic.twitter.com/ZUgfXcbSxw
— Dylan (@hamilton4391) January 15, 2022
Video from Cassidy Gillin of waves thrashing near the O’Neill lounge in Santa Cruz.
Basic message for the day: don’t be brave. Stay away from the coast @KION546 pic.twitter.com/ieqK9nJ28A
— Victor Guzman KION (@VGuzman_TV) January 15, 2022
Stay on higher ground. This is a current look at Miramar Beach in Half Moon Bay. @SMHarbor #CaWx #California @sanmateoco @sccounty pic.twitter.com/irnxkofMGi
— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) January 15, 2022
Here is the current look at Half Moon Bay. You can see Pillar Point Harbor Patrol in the distance. #CaWx #California @sanmateoco @SMHarbor @NWSBayArea pic.twitter.com/z5HHnECtTE
— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) January 15, 2022
Featured image: @CALFIRECZU via Twitter