LIVE HARBOR SAMCAM

Experts say tide could be higher than expected

From staff reports
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009 - 04:48:36 pm PDT

Officials say Californians may see a higher than normal tide tonight as a result of a strong earthquake near American Samoa. There is a tsunami advisory for the entire California coast but experts say they don’t expect widespread inundation anywhere on the coast.

High tide is at 8:50 tonight. Curt Kaplan of the National Weather Service in Oxnard told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday afternoon that the seismic activity could bring waves a foot higher than normal.

"This is an advisory, not a warning," he told the newspaper. "But if I were on the [immediate] coast, I would move inland."

A tsunami advisory includes the entire California coast as well as Oregon and Hawaii. There is no indication that a dangerous tsunami is on the way, however.

According to the Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska, an advisory indicates the presence of a tsunami which may produce strong currents and is dangerous to those in or very near the water is expected. Large inundations are not expected in areas under advisory status.

Advisories will be cancelled, extended, or upgraded to a warning depending on the event severity. Advisories are issued when the expected tsunami amplitude is in the range of 0.3 to 1 meter.

Earlier the center said there was no indication of any tsunami on the West Coast and it had already cancelled an advisory for the Hawaiian islands.

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