Map Of California: Areas That Could See Tsunami (PHOTOS)

Much of California is currently under a tsunami warning, the most severe tsunami advisory.

While massive 23-foot waves swept over Japan soon after the quake, it took several hours for waves to hit Pacific islands. Waves have also begun crashing in Washington state.

California is expected to experience higher waves within the hour. The images below, from NOAA show which areas are currently at risk for seeing tsunami waves, as well as the energy dispersal from the quake itself.

For more information on the advisories, click here. To see exactly where the earthquake struck and the areas affected, click here.

West coast areas currently under a tsunami warning or advisory, including California, from NOAA:

A visualization of the earthquake's energy dispersal, from NOAA:

A map detailing the potential amplitude of the energy generated by the quake, from NOAA:

A map detailing the travel times of waves caused by the tsunami:

Comments

[Conejo]

11:42 AM on 03/12/2011

Maybe the Greeks weren't wrong. The massive whirlpool brings to mind Charybdis. Could that whirlpool have been the result of a tsunami from an underwater earthquake? Maybe it wasn't pure mythology at all.

[LAustin]

05:11 AM on 03/12/2011

Give any Californian the chance, and they'll act like this is ALL about them.

[rancho]

06:19 PM on 03/11/2011

I live in the Pasadena area of Los Angeles.
Might be raising my home value soon as we could be sitting on beach front property soon!

[munki]

03:33 PM on 03/11/2011

Tsunami is scary! Devastated Japan coastal cities to 10km away from the coast line -
reported on news here... Yes, it has been shaking...

[CAdawn]

02:51 PM on 03/11/2011

The gopers want to take money away from NOAA. Anything to do with science confuses them.

[mmkay]

05:05 AM on 03/13/2011

GOPers say NOAA don't need our funds. NOAA can build an ark again. Literacy is way down with that crowd as you must know. But literalism is waaaaaayyyyyy up with them, too. Go figure.

[MaryfromIL]

02:17 PM on 03/11/2011

Relative in Calif was going to surf along with a bunch of others. Luckily, the police are stopping people.

They need a good sized Gibbs whack on the back of the head.

[brokerthanu]

02:21 PM on 03/11/2011

The police need to stop getting in the way of natural selection.

[MaryfromIL]

03:24 PM on 03/11/2011

They are just grew up suburban. I see it all the time, they think everything is as safe as where they grew up. Takes a few "incidents", hopefully non-fatal, to wake them up.

Hopefully, common sense will come with age.

[CoastOfMaine]

03:28 PM on 03/11/2011

I have to admit that I'm inclined to view that type of behavior in the same way. ;-) Just cleaning up the gene pool. lol

[Walter H]

02:46 PM on 03/11/2011

Why? If people want to surf the tsunami, let them. Better that the tsunami whacks them on the head than Gibbs.

[Maxi Pop]

02:01 PM on 03/11/2011

With the GOP trying to de-fund NOAA...Just wait until hurricane season...No Maps for You!

[FrictionSoul]

02:14 PM on 03/11/2011

I was just going to say that. But really, those maps are cool but just eye-candy. I love eye-candy but we're increasingly shoved into a YOYO world, courtesy of the GOP.

[chamaco]

02:50 PM on 03/11/2011

The GOP wants to keep everyone stupid and in the dark. They can control the masses better that weay.

[CynWaveRider]

01:47 PM on 03/11/2011

Bless all those affected

[Walter H]

02:46 PM on 03/11/2011

Wait .. why would that be a blessing?

[hondugirl]

03:41 PM on 03/11/2011

People talk without thinking or knowing what they are saying. Maybe it was meant "hope, mitigation, comfort, something of the sort.

[mmkay]

05:06 AM on 03/13/2011

If you are/were affected would you want blessings or a curse?

[julieintx]

01:42 PM on 03/11/2011

There are lots of other states besides California on that map. I guess the people there don't count.

[armillariella]

01:48 PM on 03/11/2011

I was just going to comment on the same thing. Maybe the focus is on California because the author of this article is unaware that Oregon is populated by anything other than spotted owls? And anything north of there is just vast frozen tundra.

[bridge to somewhere]

01:58 PM on 03/11/2011

CA has larger estuaries prone to flooding and major coastal population centers. As an Oregonian, I can understand why they get all the attention.

The Oregon Coast is sparsely populated, rather remote, and quite steep in most places. Most of the population lives in the Willamette Valley, well protected from coastal surge.

[brokerthanu]

02:24 PM on 03/11/2011

California has a denser (human) population along the coast and quite a bit of low-lying lands. Oregon is sparsely populated and well protected by huge cliffs and drops.

[zagyzebra]

02:05 PM on 03/11/2011

Tsunami sirens in small but beautiful Southern Oregon coastal town of Brookings this morning and low-lying areas evacuated. Must have been some damage, as my teenage son received a Facebook message that a house of someone he knew in Brookings was flooded. This is how we found out about the earthquake in the first place in the rush before school. Not the news, but this strange Facebook message.

[Callah]

02:18 PM on 03/11/2011

All the low line areas from Crescent City to way up the Southern Oregon Coast got damage this morning. Places in Smith River and Ft. Dick as well as the northern outline areas such as the back side of the Burch Tract almost to 199. There is probably damage in the subdivisions along Pebble Beach Drive up past Washington Blvd. Lake Earl Drive is at risk I'm sure. We haven't gotten much local news except that the harbor in Crescent City is totaled and about 38 boats got crushed. They have crews working on restoring power to parts of the county right now.

[amanandamouse]

02:42 PM on 03/11/2011

Very sad to hear. I've been to the beautiful town of Brookings.

[jsuperconductor]

01:40 PM on 03/11/2011

out-f^%ingstanding work NOAA! pretty colors, lets all hold our breath...

[advocatusdiaboli]

01:18 PM on 03/11/2011

The Republicans have US funds for tsunami warnings on the chopping block. With timing like that, I am surprised they get any votes at all.

[AnnArky]

01:20 PM on 03/11/2011

Republicans don't "get" votes, they rig elections.

[msles59130]

01:22 PM on 03/11/2011

They will get votes. The completely nonsensical intent of the bill aside. If put forth by a republican, the other republicans will vote for it.

[pcplz]

01:35 PM on 03/11/2011

and then they rig elections....

[Jim Anderson]

01:16 PM on 03/11/2011

Probably Obama's fault.

[lizmckenzie55]

01:53 PM on 03/11/2011

As usual.

[brokerthanu]

02:26 PM on 03/11/2011

Well the wave IS coming from the direction of Hawaii.

[bigsexysysadmin]

01:12 PM on 03/11/2011

Republicans think these are just pretty pictures to go along with Jesus riding a dinosaur tapestry they have!!