Calif. Beaches Closed Due To Tsunami Advisory !!!!

[link to cbs13.com]

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said Saturday the closures would include beaches in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, where the National Weather Service has predicted strong currents and choppy waves for several hours starting around 1 p.m.

Sheriff's spokesman Ray Lunny said people should stay away from the waters off the county's coast at least until late Saturday afternoon.

California warned its coastal cities to prepare for possible tsunami waves following a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile.

An advisory means there may be strong currents, but that widespread inundation is not expected.

State emergency officials say they are monitoring the situation, but no evacuations have been ordered.

Surfers contended with paltry waves and intermittent rain Saturday, defying advice to stay away from California beaches.

Forecasters predicted waves of up to three feet along parts of the coast, but did not expect widespread inundation or damage to occur.

"You could definitely ask for better day," said Josh Rapozo, 27, of Laguna Niguel, after competing in a qualifying match of a Professional Longboards Association contest at San Diego's Ocean Beach.

The tsuami was a hot topic of conversation at coastal coffee shops, though some surfers, including Rapozo, hadn't heard about the quake. Their big complaint was choppy waves that measured little more than two feet.

Contest organizers were tracking the tsunami's movement on a live Internet feed but didn't plan to cancel the event. Announcers covering the competition mentioned the quake briefly but showed no concern.

"We're just trying to stay on schedule, that's the biggest thing," said Jeff Stoner, the association's executive director.

All but five of 72 contestants showed up Saturday, said Stoner. One from Hawaii dropped out to catch a flight home, hoping to join family before the first waves hit the islands.

If a tsunami hits the West Coast, the first waves would reach the La Jolla, an upscale section of San Diego, according to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

The Coast Guard recommended that people in San Diego avoid going near beaches or other low-lying coastal areas, especially jetties and rocky areas. It said large waves can quickly and unexpectedly sweep a person from those areas, easily overtaking even the strongest swimmers.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department was taking a wait-and-see approach, as was the county Office of Emergency Services. If the tsunami advisory is upgraded to a watch, the sheriff's department would alert residents and possibly call for evacuations.

"Right now, we're just advising people not to go into the water," said Lt. Harold Turner.

Devastating tsunamis are rare in California. Since 1812, 14 tsunamis with waves higher than 3 feet have been observed along the California coast, but only six caused destruction.

The deadliest occurred in 1964 when a magnitude-9.2 quake in Alaska spawned tsunami waves that killed 12 people in Northern California.