Tsunami Warning For San Diego Beaches Canceled

SAN DIEGO, CA — A tsunami warning for San Diego County beaches was canceled Saturday after an underwater volcano erupted in the South Pacific.

The advisory was canceled at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS San Diego office reported at 12:32 p.m. that San Diego had 1.4- foot waves, and La Jolla had .6 feet. The highest tsunami coastal observations in California were in Port San Luis, with 4.3 feet reported.

Residents were warned to stay away from San Diego County beaches Saturday morning as a tsunami triggered by an underwater volcano eruption in the South Pacific began to hit California's coast.

Waves between one and two feet were expected in the San Diego area, starting just before 8 a.m. Saturday. People were advised to move off the beach and out of the harbors and marinas, avoid the coastline and not to go to the coast to watch the tsunami.

Seismologist Lucy Jones, founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, said the expected short-term increase of 1-3 feet in sea level would only be an issue near the beach.

"Tsunamis are not one wave. It's more like sloshing and that sloshing can continue for a day. Just because the first wave has passed, it is not time to go see the beach," Jones tweeted.

SEE ALSO: Tsunami Advisory Issued For California Coast After Volcano Erupts

For San Diego's beaches, the threat remained waves capable of producing strong currents hazardous to swimmers, boats, and coastal structures. The waves were not expected to be large enough to cause "inundation" or flooding in San Diego

"Seeing some surges on the Port San Luis tsunami gauge. Reporting up to a 24 cm residual so far. That's 9.4 inches or about 19 inches from the bottom and top of the residual," the National Weather Service's Los Angeles office tweeted at 8:08 a.m.

The NWS said at 7:05 a.m. that there were "no significant concerns about inundation."

The warning was in effect for Alaska, Hawaii and the entire West Coast.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, near Tonga, erupted late Friday. A tsunami hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, according to CNN, which reported that waves were flooding the capital.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report