 Cal OES logo inside look OESnews.com I'm Brian May with Cal OES and we are in Ventura Harbor today and while the setting is beautiful it's time to talk tsunamis. Do you know the one thing you should never do if a tsunami was headed toward the coast of California? We'll answer that in a moment, but first the last week in March is designated as Tsunami Awareness Week. With more on that and how you can prepare yourself, here's Rob Mayberry. You know Brian, California enjoys over 1200 miles of pristine beaches, just like the one behind me here in Ventura, and while most Californians understand the potential damage that can be caused by wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding, far fewer know the potential risk from tsunamis. For instance, did you know California's two worst tsunamis of the past century happened in the month of March? The tsunami of 1964 killed 11 people and destroyed most of the town of Crescent City in Northern California. Although not nearly as destructive, the Japan tsunami in 2011 caused significant damage to California's harbors. The last big one that impacted California was the Tehoku earthquake and tsunami which came from Japan to California and caused about $100 million in damage just to coastal infrastructure, boats, harbors, and piers, that kind of thing. We caught up with Cal OES earthquake and tsunami program manager Kevin Miller to find out just what areas along California's coastline are prone to this natural disaster and what we should know to be better prepared. It might be coming from Alaska, toward California, and you're south facing beach and you think you're protected from something coming from the north and you're not. And then you might have a wave that's coming from Chile and that will impact different harbors or coastlines than something coming from Japan. So it just depends on how much water is coming and what direction it's coming from and what your local topography is really what's controlling how much inundation does or doesn't occur. So what are the warning signs in the event of an impending tsunami? If you feel strong or long shaking of earthquake type shaking and you're at the beach that would be one indicator. Another would be is if you hear a large abnormal ocean roar that you don't expect from the ocean and a third indicator is a draw down abnormally of the water drawing far out. And if you encounter one or more of these warnings, what should you do next? If it's a distant event that's when you'll have potentially hours of warning and you can get information potentially on your phone or on the radio. If there are sirens in your area, those could be triggered as well. And if you encounter one or more of these warnings, what should you do next? Pretty easy to protect yourself from by knowing where your hazard zone is, what you can find online. There are tsunami warning signs along the coast that show how far inland these things are expected to go. Most cases in California should be okay above 20 to 50 feet and far north in California it may be a little bit higher north of Cape Mendocino. Thankfully we do not see tsunamis often on the west coast, but as you can see when they do happen they have the capability of being destructive and in some cases deadly. If you have a subduction zone right off coast you may only have 10 or 15 minutes to get to that high ground. So practicing your route to safety with your community, with your family, by yourself and knowing what that route would be on a sunny day like today is a good thing to have in place. In the event you have to evacuate due to a tsunami, make sure you follow the evacuation routes away from the ocean. You don't have to go that far to get to a safe place, in fact if you look behind me you can see the ocean right down the way. Back to you Brian. Alright, thanks Rob. Now back to our initial question, what is the one thing you really shouldn't do if a tsunami were headed toward the coast of California? Born and raised in Ventura County, John Higgins knows these waters like the back of his hand. Hi guys. I just wanted to remind you there's larger than average surf, so when you come out, when you come in the harbor really try to stay in the middle. In his 23 years with the Ventura Harbor District, the last five as Harbor Master, Higgins has pretty much seen it all. The first time that we experienced the tsunami I would say we did not see the drastic drop of the sea level like you've heard of in some of the Pacific Islands or in Asia when they've had those tsunamis where the water retreats back and it's nothing but barren bottom of the ocean. In our harbor there was very little warning if anything it was coming, but fortunately it wasn't a big wave that came, it was just an influx of water, a consistent surge of water akin to a river coming in the harbor continuously for a period of time and then leaving the harbor continuously for a period of time. Back to back tsunamis in 2010 and 2011 turned out to be teachable moments for Higgins and Ventura Harbor. The tsunami didn't happen in five minutes and it was done. The tsunami happened over a period of time, we had several different events and in the Japan case it lasted for over 12 hours these individual events so patience was key. Which leads us to the one thing John Higgins recommends you not do if a tsunami were heading towards California. I would highly recommend if you're not at the harbor, don't come to the harbor. I had people in each of those instances saying I'm in Los Angeles or I'm in Bakersfield should I come to the harbor and take my boat and go out in the ocean I said no, no, no. When the next tsunami warning comes in and it will, Higgins knows from experience the protocol he is to follow. I typically will get the call from our Ventura County Office of Emergency Services who is tied in with Cal OES and the tsunami warning center. He also knows from experience the simple measures those in the tsunami zone should follow. It is as simple as five minutes into town, everybody knows that there's Starbucks, there's grocery stores, there's hospitals, there's movie theaters, there's parks, there's a number of different things that can stimulate you and keep you entertained for a period of time and that's on top of being assured your safety. When they go into the ocean there is none of that. They're going into what is akin to the old Wild West. There is no resources out there, there's no gas station, there's no Starbucks, there's no movie theater. There isn't a hospital offshore, there isn't an ambulance. If you'd like more information on what to do in the event of a tsunami you can go to tsunamizone.org and while you're there there is a list of events that are taking place all across California for our Tsunami Awareness Week, again that's the last week of March. For all of us at the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services I'm Brian May. Thanks for watching. Go to tsunamizone.org to learn more. Find out if your home, school or workplace are in a tsunami hazard or evacuation zone. Understand the difference between a tsunami watch, advisory or warning and what you should do before, during and after a tsunami strikes.