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Observations of tsunami and runup heights in Santa Cruz Harbor and surrounding beaches from the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai tsunami

Metadata Updated: September 12, 2025

The 14 January 2022 eruption of Tonga Hunga-Tonga Ha'apai volcano generated tsunamis that impacted the west coast of the United States on the morning of 15 January 2022. This data release presents runup heights and tsunami heights collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Geological Survey (CGS) during surveys at the Santa Cruz Harbor and beaches in Santa Cruz County, California, on January 19th and 20th, 2022 (USGS Field Activity 2022-607-FA). Evidence of tsunami inundation included high water marks on buildings and harbor infrastructure, wrack lines, and flow-direction indicators such as bent vegetation. Elevations surveyed at the maximum inland extent of tsunami inundation are classified as “runup heights.” High-water mark elevations are classified as “tsunami heights.” At Seabright, Beer Can, and Manresa beaches, the inferred tsunami inundation limit was identified as the highest wrack line on each beach. The wrack line coincided with a change in sand color, with the inundated side consisting of darker colored sand. 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 08:50 PST (16:50 GMT). Flow-depth markers on buildings and infrastructure from a later wave were measured and reported as lower tsunami heights and are noted. The final point data are provided in a comma-separated text file and are projected in cartesian coordinates using the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM), Zone 10 North, meters coordinate system.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 12, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 12, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-61fab9cdd34e622189c77fdc
Data Last Modified 2022-05-25T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id a7d08cdd-ba93-4347-a097-96d49f4802d0
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -122.0104, 36.8807, -121.8157, 36.9834
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 64dd7a22f1834066973b691f8254bc3223eea36f18127e9f37240dabf6ec5ae3
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -122.0104, 36.8807, -122.0104, 36.9834, -121.8157, 36.9834, -121.8157, 36.8807, -122.0104, 36.8807}

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