Along California coast, waiting for tsunami waves with concern, curiosity, comedy

From the Santa Monica Bay to Hawaii and beyond, coastal residents had their day upended by a faraway, massive earthquake in Russia that brought tsunami alerts to a wide swath of the Pacific.Tsunami waves were expected to hit Hawaii and, later, the California coast.Southern California is expected to see only modest waves, but far-northern California could see larger ones.At Dockweiler, Aaron Travis and Maris Vellavura, two Aussies who were visiting California for a work trip, had been unaware of the tsunami advisory as they hung out.Strolling alongside the beach, they said they were enjoying the final days of a U.S.

trip that had lasted for a couple of weeks.They were surprised but not worried.“It would have been nice to know about it,” Travis said, laughing.

“It isn’t too bad really.Like, you never know how big they’re going to be, whether it’s a fail or not.”Connor Cunningham said he left his phone at home but began to regret that after learning of the advisory.

A Playa Vista local, he pondered the possibilities.“Like, do I even have a plan? Like, what if this happened?” he said.“Playa Vista is a little bit low.

If I was up the hills, I wouldn’t really be thinking about it, but like, maybe I should plan.”Bianca and Josue Mendez, siblings, and their friend Miguel Silva were walking and biking alongside the sand.Bianca was on a visit from Nebraska to visit her brother, and thought visiting the beach could be fun.

She was sorely disappointed when those the advisory threatened to put a crimp in those plans.“I asked AI, like, ‘is it OK to go to the beach?’” Bianca said.The three were surprised at the amount of undisturbed beachgoers.“I don’t think it’s stopping anyone,” Josue said.In Crescent City, a remote Northern California harbor town where tsunamis are a way of life, the Tuesday evening barflies gathered at Port O’Pints Brewing Co.

were decidedly blasé about the possibility of impending disaster.The TVs on the wall...