Ok....what would happen if a 50 ft. wave hit the coast of California????

Question

My husband and i were debating about this last night and want to know whos right....He said it won't reach the IE...which is about 50-60 miles off the shore...I think it could...(never underestimate nature) what do you think???

Answer 1

California has been hit by many 50-60 foot waves. Every winter at Mavericks in Half Moon Bay surfers ride waves with faces larger than 60 feet. In fact there have been waves over 80 feet documented in this area.
go to mavsurfer.com and check it out.

If your talking about a tsunami that is a different thing altogether. A tsunami would damage a lot of low lying coastal areas.

Answer 2

You'd be at a surf spot called Maverick's in Half Moon Bay. When the swells hit right, it's easily 30-40 ft. They have a contest every winter headed by Jeff Clark, the "pioneer" of Mavericks. The spot is about 1 1/2 offshore. Because of gravity, it probably would not be possible for a 50 ft wave to hit the shorebreak, but 20-30 ft. waves are definitely possible. Here's a website to check wave heights and swell direction:

wetsand.com

Answer 3

i dont think it yould travel 50-60 miles inland, that would mean a one foot wave you travel one mile, you go to the beach and that doesnt happen right? ive seen 20 footers in santa cruz california next to the harbor and they only flood the whole beach. so maybe a 50 foot wave would travel less than a mile inland.


it also depends about the geography of the location

and if these "waves" your talking about are generated by a tsunami? if they are tsunami waves then they would travel inland much further! just look at the waves fron the disaster in 2004 in the south pacific, you can probably find before and after pictures of the disaster.

dont fight too much about this! =p

Answer 4

no way...a 50' tsunami might go to about 2 - 3 miles inland before friction of buidlings, land itself would dissapate its forward movement, it would reverse and flow back to the Pacific. California is NOT flat by any means. within 10 miles of the coast, we have mountains here in Southern California (Orange County), and further south, Mountains rise within a mile of the Ocean. In many places, the cliffs are at least 200 feet above the beaches. I am not sure a 50' tsunami would hit me, and I live within 3 miles of the Ocean in Costa Mesa...Mesa, as in raised, flat area...we are about 60 feet above sea level. Now, Newport Beach would be non-existant, Balboa Island would be gone, Downtown Long Beach would suffer serious damage, Los Angeles would see about 1 mile inland water.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

It would depend on where along the California coast it hit and how wide the wave was at the time of impact. If it came up on a cliff face 100 feet above the shoreline it would smash up and disburse to the sides and eventually return to the ocean.

Answer 7

A lot of variables come into play here. depends if you are on or near tidal flats. my opinion is no, a wave that size would break up and dissipate due to natural and man made structures. look to the east of you on a map and look for dried up lakes with salt beds. this would indicate that a wave to reach that distance would need to be at minimum size of empire state building and have a speed velocity sufficient to crash through anything to reach that far inland. a 50 ft wave would cause collateral damage to at risk homes within 10 miles of wave that hits the beach.

Answer 8

Well if it hit a place where the coast is at sea level and only gets higher gradually I think it could go 50 miles inland.

Answer 9

First of all, it would largely depend on where it actually hit. Pick your spot among the 840+ miles of coastline on the following map and make an educated guess about it. If populated areas are in the way, then consider that as well.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/Digital-elevation-map-california.gif

Answer 10

It could if the waves are generated by huge earthquakes... and with the land liquefying .. u could hve a huge tsunami,...