How the tsunami impacted San Diego coast

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Overnight video of Half Moon Bay in Northern California showed water bouncing back and forth causing boats to bob after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake rattled Russia, triggering a tsunami advisory along the California coast.

Along the San Diego Bay small, but noticeable tsunami waves were felt and witnessed.

“If I was living on one of those boats, I would not have stayed there last night, I would've gone inland, just out of an abundance of caution,” said local geology expert Dr. Pat Abbott. “We had an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile in 2010, and at that time, the wave on the border of a foot and a half high came into San Diego Bay, caused a bunch of damage to boats on Shelter Island.”

The first tsunami wave at La Jolla Shores was recorded at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday and was less than a half foot.

Associate Professor Alice Gabriel with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography explains that a tsunami is caused when plates collide under the water during an earthquake.     

“One plate dives under another plate, and during the earthquake, very rapidly the plates bounce back, so the sea floor gets uplifted and it can cause a tsunami,” she said.

Gabriel says there’s no way to predict earthquakes or size of a tsunami, but it’s important to stay prepared and vigilant and to know your evacuation plans if you live and work along the coast.

“Right now this is one of the big riddles and challenges in science, we can’t predict a quake,” Gabriel said.

Tsunami advisories have been lifted for the San Diego coast, but experts encourage swimmers to be careful because there could still be some strong currents the next couple of days.