Tsunami advisory in Alaska reminds Santa Cruz Harbor to be alert, prepared

After the news of a possible tsunami warning in Alaska broke Monday, that had residents and responders in Santa Cruz remembering the storm that caused $25 million of damages in 2011.

Federal authorities originally issued a tsunami advisory Monday after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The quake generated small tsunamis, with waves of less than 7 inches, prompting the National Tsunami Warning Center to first downgrade the warning to an advisory.

Though it posed no immediate threat to the Central Coast, the Community Emergency Response Team or CERT, the Santa Cruz Harbormaster and the Red Cross said Monday they were following FEMA’s guidelines as they waited for more information about the Alaska earthquake.

The advisory wasn’t lifted until late Monday night.