Month: August 2025

Jeanette Bent

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) — The Santa Cruz Harbor is no stranger to tsunamis of a variety of sizes.

In the past, some of these large waves have caused significant damage and even death.

The most recent tsunami advisory — which took place between July 29 and 30 after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off of a low-populated section of Russia’s eastern coast — fortunately caused little to no damage to the Santa Cruz Harbor area.

“The Santa Cruz Harbor faces a direction of due south, so depending on the direction of an incoming tsunami will determine the amount of damage,” said a representative from the Santa Cruz Harbor.

The waves coming into the Harbor Wednesday morning were certainly tamer than some of the past tsunami activity that the Harbor had seen in the past.

Santa Cruz Harbor, tsunami advisory July 2025

A History of Tsunami Activity in Santa Cruz

On April 1, 1946 a tsunami struck in Santa Cruz, creating 10-foot waves that swept a man into the ocean at Cowell Beach, according to the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

That tsunami was generated by an 8.6-magnitude earthquake in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

Then, in 1964 and more recently in 2011, the Santa Cruz Harbor received two different tsunamis spawned by quakes in Alaska and Japan, respectively, totaling a 9.0 and 9.2 quake.

The Harbor suffering between $15 and $20 million in damage.

The Tonga Volcanic eruption from the South Pacific that took place in 2022, left the Harbor with between $8 and $10 million in damage.

“Based on eyewitness and video observations of the tsunami in Santa Cruz Harbor, most of the surveyed tsunami and runup heights are the result of inundation from the highest wave around 8:50 PST,” wrote the USGS online.

“You have the first wave of the tsunami that comes in and then impacts the coast, that is usually not the largest wave,” said Research Geophysicist with the USGS Eric Geist.

Geist says that tsunami size and subsequent damage depends on many of its origin factors, citing that tsunamis tend to come in… waves.

“After that hits the coast, the waves will be propagating parallel to the coast, and if they encounter a bay like Monterey Bay, they’ll be ringing like a bell back and forth into it,” he said.

Also, Geist says that the location of said volcano or earthquake will affect the way that it hits the Monterey Bay area.

“The first waves are going to refract around the points on the bay and then come towards the Santa Cruz Harbor, so they’re going to hit the outer part of the coast first and then refract or bend around the point and come in towards there,” said Geist. “Then, the resonation takes over after that.”

The Anatomy of a Tsunami and How to Stay Safe

USGS Geophysicist Eric Geist says that there are specific behaviors to watch out for if a tsunami is expected to hit.

“Most often — like 70% of the time — you won’t see breaking waves like you typically would see for the surfing waves, you’ll see just a step-up in water, kind of like a very fast-moving tide,” he said. “They’re very deceptive because a lot of times people don’t see a tsunami until it’s too late to outrun because they’re also moving very fast and much farther inland. They’re really tricky waves.”

Even if you don’t see anything going on throughout the surface of the water, Geist says that the currents are still quite strong beneath the surface.

According to the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, the tsunami’s height can be significantly taller than the regular sea level, even if it’s not recognizable (see the diagram below, available on the USGS website).

USGS tsunami terminology and diagram

Geist also says that since the Monterey Canyon sits on the bottom of the bay’s floor offering a deep channel for water to flow into the bay, this just transmits more energy into the area than if there were no canyon at all.

“The canyon does influence how much tsunami energy gets funneled into the bay and then resonance takes over,” he said. “Tsunamis are very fast; they’re much faster than typical ocean-generated waves. They move at about a jet airliner speed in the deep ocean.”

What’s Next and Tracking Tsunamis

The 1946 tsunami was the catalyst to establish the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), which was created to monitor tsunami activity and help reduce loss of life and property.

“Tide gauges were originally designed for harbor masters to predict the tides,” said Geist of the current tool used by boaters to navigate the waters ahead of launch. “They were designed to attempt to filter out ocean waves and swell, they happen to pick up tsunami waves so they’ve been incredibly important for forecasting abilities for the National Weather Service, in addition to these new instruments.”

These instruments, like Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPR) (pictured below), Geist says were invented to forecast tsunamis and have been particularly helpful in doing that.

NOAA Bottom Pressure Recorder

According to Geist, the current primary method of tracking tsunami power is through measuring the wave’s length, however, USGS scientists out of the westside in Santa Cruz are exploring new ways of measuring tsunami behavior throughout the Santa Cruz Harbor.

“For Santa Cruz specifically, we’re trying to put in a current meter in the Santa Cruz Harbor to hopefully help our forecasting capabilities and to just get an idea of what the response of the harbor is to tsunami waves,” said Geist. “Current meters are being more and more used to understand the behaviors of tsunamis when it comes to the damage they produce of things in the water.”

To learn more about early tsunami detection, you can visit NOAA’s Tsunami Detection website. Additionally, you can check the water and temperature quality in Santa Cruz’s Harbor by visiting the Port’s website here.

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Sergio Berrueta

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) — The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has reported that more victims have come forward after deputies announced the arrest of 58-year-old Anastacio Ramos Rubio of Salinas for allegedly committing sex-related crimes while providing massage services at his home.

Since announcing Rubio’s arrest, the sheriff’s office says that “several additional persons” have reached out to them saying that they are also victims of crimes committed while receiving services from Rubio.

“Our investigation leads us to believe that there are additional victims who have received services from Mr. Rubio and may be victims of similar types of crimes,” said deputies.

Rubio is currently in the Monterey County Jail on charges of penetration with a foreign object, sexual battery and practicing medicine without a license. His bail has been set at $1,000,000.

Deputies are asking anyone who may believe that they’ve been a victim or have any additional information to reach out to Detective Rodrigo Lopez at 831-253-6050 or LopezR3@countyofmonterey.gov.

Salinas man arrested for sexual crimes from their home-run massage business

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) – A Salinas man accused of assaulting a victim in their home-run massage parlor pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

58-year-old Anastacio Rubio pleaded not guilty after being arrested for assaulting a victim from his business on Fontes Lane in Salinas.

Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested Rubio after the victim told a family member that she had been touched inappropriately.

Rubio is suspected of also injecting her with an unknown substance to “help her relax” and giving her unknown pills.

The next hearing is set for August 19.

Salinas man arrested for sexual crimes from their home-run massage business

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) – A Salinas man has been arrested for assaulting a victim in a massage parlor he ran from his home.

According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, 58-year-old Anastacio Ramos Rubio was arrested and had been running his business on Fontes Lane in Salinas.

Rubio was arrested as deputies served a search warrant at 1 p.m. on Friday.

MCSO was contacted by a family member of the victim, who told her mother that she had been touched inappropriately.

MCSO Sheriff Tina Nieto said at the press conference that the suspect injected her with an unknown substance to “help her relax.” He also provided them with unknown pills.

MCSO also suspects that there may be more victims.

“This is a practice that’s been brought over from, like, Mexico and some of these other countries, where these unlicensed misuse, type of businesses are just done by people passing phone numbers between families,” Nieto said. “So, that’s why we believe that there are other victims out there that are maybe embarrassed. We believe there are other victims out there because he was very prolific in things that we identified in the investigation.

Rubio is being charged with sodomy, sexual battery, and unauthorized practice of medicine.

Suspect arrested for sexual crimes from their massage business

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) – A suspect has been arrested for sexually related crimes while operating a massage business in Salinas.

According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, the massage business was being run out of their home.

A press conference is being held at 4:30 p.m. with more details. We will update this story with those details once available.

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jose.romo

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV) — The city of Watsonville is facing the loss of significant grant money. This is after funds intended for a feasibility traffic impact study were taken away through the Big Beautiful Bill. 

On Wednesday, the city announced the loss of a $2.3 million grant that would study the traffic, health, and economic impacts of large truck traffic around the city’s main roads. 

“The purpose of the study was to evaluate those impacts and come up with solutions for how to address it, how to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, how to help with the revitalization of downtown and the wider and address emissions near places like schools.” Justin Meek with the city of Watsonville says the study was planned to work with policies already in effect. He says a major concern was pedestrian fatalities which the city had already looked at through their vision zero plan. 

Between 2017 and 2022, the California Office of Traffic Safety and Watsonville Police reported 177 pedestrians were injured or killed, while 61 cyclists also suffered from minor to fatal crashes. Similar data shows that a lot of these incidents occurred near Main Street, also known as State Route 152.

Angelina Martinez, who lives near State Route 152, says the major trailer traffic concerns her as it is a health risk. She adds that many in her age group choose to walk around the neighborhood, making and that the added traffic poses a safety risk. 

Others like Rogelio Guerrero say not much can be done to change truck routes, as those are the main roads that connect the major highways.  

“This hurdle will be overcome with continued effort by the city to find other opportunities in the future for addressing these harms and how to help,” added Meek. 

He says that rather than an impact, this cut to funding poses a loss of an opportunity.  he adds, however, the city remains committed to working with policies already in effect to address these concerns.

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Sergio Berrueta

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) – The first-ever Race the Wave run/walk is ready to bring awareness of tsunami safety to the City of Santa Cruz on Sept. 13.

The tsunami awareness run will follow a timed 3K evacuation route from a high-risk coastal area to higher ground beginning at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. From here, the route heads down Pacific Avenue to the Downtown area and ends at Mission Plaza Park.

This announcement comes a day after a tsunami advisory was in effect due to the 8.8 magnitude quake outside of the remote east coast of Russia. Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker said that the advisory served as a “powerful reminder that these hazards are real.”

“Preparedness is critical. Events like this help us build awareness and resilience, because knowing what to do in those first moments can save lives and protect our community,” said Huffaker.

The race will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, with registration open now with an entry fee of $20 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under.

Those who participate will receive a t-shirt, safety materials, and post-run refreshments.

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