The threat of tsunamis

If a tsunami were to hit the Orange County coast head-on, the waves could wash over the entire Balboa Peninsula, every island in the harbor and up to the base of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, affecting 40,000 residents, city officials said.

According to an “inundation map” of the California coast released by the state Department of Conservation, a tsunami has the potential to devastate the Newport Beach community.

The map is meant for city planners to have a better idea of how to prepare for a tsunami triggered by seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean.

Unlike places such as Huntington Beach, where the topography allows for the water to wash much farther inland, the hills of Newport Heights, Costa Mesa, Corona del Mar and Newport Coast appear to limit the damage in Newport Beach. While the waves would cover the entire Balboa Peninsula and every island in the harbor, homes surrounding the Back Bay and farther south would be mostly unscathed, according to the map. Homes on the north end of Newport Beach along the Santa Ana River would be affected.

A tsunami warning was issued for Newport Beach and most of the Southern California coast earlier this year after an earthquake off Samoa.

Newport Beach is tsunami-ready, said Matt Brisbois, disaster services coordinator for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

Lifeguards can warn beachgoers, and the AlertOC countywide system gives an automated emergency call to residents, he said.

Other tsunami response measures include designated overland evacuation routes, such as northbound Jamboree Road.