Update: Tsunami Advisory in Berkeley, Alameda County

Update, 7:35 p.m. Alameda County has urged residents to avoid coastal areas, beaches and waterways due to an active Tsunami Advisory, but says evacuations are not needed at this time.

The county issued an AC Alert announcement just after 7:20 p.m. advising that Bay Area tsunami activity was expected to begin Wednesday around 12:40 a.m.

Under the advisory, there are no areas where anyone in Alameda County has been advised to move inland or head to higher ground.

Berkeley officials said they hope the advice holds.

In its notice, AC Alert said there are four types of tsunami notifications, from information statements (which have the lowest level of risk); to a Tsunami Watch (“stay tuned”); a Tsunami Advisory (“stay out of the water” and away from the coast); and Tsunami Warnings, where people are told to “move to high ground” or head inland.

See the latest information and alert details from the National Weather Service.

Writing on X, NWS Bay Area urged caution near the water.

“Friends please be aware, a Tsunami is a series of wave carrying a large extra mass of water to our coast. This will NOT be a single wave. Do NOT try to go to the coast to take photos,” NWS Bay Area wrote. “You’re not just putting yourself at risk, you will also be putting rescue teams at risk.”

Original story: A Tsunami Watch is in effect in the Bay Area “until further notice” following an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Berkeley’s city manager said its Office of Emergency Services is monitoring the situation and will share information as needed.

Authorities are asking everyone to avoid the water and local shorelines.

Writing on X, NWS Bay Area said community members should “prepare to evacuate coastal regions” and urged people to monitor local media as well as NOAA Weather Radio.

According to current NWS estimates, the tsunami is expected to arrive in Monterey at 12:15 a.m. Wednesday and in San Francisco at 12:40 a.m.

The National Weather Service said coastal flooding is possible, with threat evaluations underway.

Berkeley says more Tsunami Watch details coming soon

West Berkeley City Councilman Terry Taplin said Alameda County will be sending out emergency messaging soon via the AC Alert system.

Taplin urged everyone in the covered areas to maintain an evacuation plan, sign up for Berkeley disaster preparedness training and review the tsunami chapter of the Berkeley’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan for further details.

NWS encouraged people to review tsunami maps from the California Department of Conservation.

(As of publication time, that website did not appear to be loading.)

This story was updated shortly after publication due to the developing nature of events.

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