The great Greenfield Tsunami of 1983

In the early morning of August 23rd, 1982, a large magnitude 9.1 earthquake hit the coast of Alaska, sending out large waves to the coasts of multiple west coast cities in the USA. Large 25-feet waves struck the cities of Crescent City, Eureka, San Fransisco, and Greenfield. Smaller waves hit the coasts of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Chronology

It was a sunny afternoon as tourists and families were hanging out on the beaches of Greenfield. The water suddenly receded, and the tsunami alarms were sounded. Hundreds of people ran into the streets of Rockwell, Santa Cecilia and other coastal regions of Greenfield to look for higher ground. The waves hit at 5:32 PM. The port was hit first, the Gamma Pier was completely wiped out, destroying everything on it. Epsilon Pier and Zeta Pier were both hit but no major damage was done. The waves went into the bay and hit most of the lower piers near downtown. but the water was too low down at this point to do any major damage to the bay. Santa Cecilia was hit badly, most of the older houses and stores collapsed, so did the small pier that once used to come off near the church. The waves also caused major damage to the marina. Much of Eastern Santa Cecilia was hit and the waves destroyed most of the houses and the riverside of Ramona. Rockwell did not receive major damage, nevertheless some of the beachside hotels did receive minor damages. The lower sections of Rockwell were hit but most of the houses only received minor damages.

After the waves hit first responders rushed to the coast, people were rushed to the hospitals and rescue centers. A shelter was made in the local parking garage in Santa Cecilia for all the people who lost their homes.

Many of the homes and stores were rebuilt after the rubble was cleared up, and the Ramona riverfront was turned into a fancy new apartment development.