Tsunami Warning Downgraded to Advisory, But Half Moon Bay Will Operate In Warning Mode For Now

Despite the downgrade from a tsunami warning to an advisory for the West Coast at 3 p.m., Mayor Naomi Patridge is waiting for the emergency response team call from San Mateo County at 4 p.m. to assess local response efforts.

 "Our emergency response efforts will continue to operate, and our evacuation center at the high school is still open, she said."Half Moon Bay City Hall is still open for communication with the public and responding to emergencies," she said.

Patridge estimated that Half Moon Bay has spent $15,000 so far in responding to today's tsunami warning.

Ken Lord at CalFire, operating out of the emergency response operations center at Half Moon Bay's fire station on Main St., said that he is also waiting to hear the update from the county before issuing any new messages to local Coastside residents.

California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer and spokesperson Art Montiel said that the CHP has no new update at this time in response to the downgrade from a warning to an advisory, and confirmed that Highway 1 between Coronado and Capistrano in El Granada is still closed at this time.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Del Norte and Humboldt counties earlier this afternoon. 

The tsunami was triggered by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit off the northeast coast of Japan on Thursday night.