
Small Tsunami Hits California After Chile Quake
A large magnitude 8.3 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Chile triggered tsunami alerts around the Pacific rim–including in California, where a small tsunami wave hit the coast early Thursday.

A large magnitude 8.3 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Chile triggered tsunami alerts around the Pacific rim–including in California, where a small tsunami wave hit the coast early Thursday.

Californians have been warned for decades that “the big one” could shove the coveted coastline into the sea in the wake of a massive earthquake like the one featured in Vin Diesel’s new disaster flick San Andreas. Now, a new study is pumping statistics into old fears that the threat could come to life.

According to a Stanford graduate student, the jet-setters who live in Marina Del Rey should don their scuba gear: Catalina Island is sinking, and that may trigger a tsunami that would leave them submerged.

New research suggests that a fault underneath the city of Ventura, roughly one hour northwest of L.A., could produce an 8.0-magnitude earthquake, as well as “severe” tsunamis previously thought impossible in Southern California, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Coastal Californians will receive a tsunami alert Wednesday morning on television and radio that the NOAA says may or may not include the word “TEST.”