What Tsunami? Just Another Sunny Day in Manhattan Beach

It seemed like just another perfect beach day Friday: The sun was shining, the waves were shimmering, and the surfers, bikers and dog walkers were doing their thing.

Except there was an added element of suspense.

Some folks came to see if the much-advertised tsunami, born from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked Japan several hours earlier, would pay a destructive visit to Manhattan Beach.

Most declared themselves relieved not to encounter anything out of the ordinary other than police and lifeguard vehicles on the beach and surveillance helicopters overhead.

“Looks like another day at the beach,” said Manhattan Beach resident Roger Williams, who was basking in the sunshine and gazing toward the Pacific next to his wife, Young, on a bench at the foot of 15th Street.

An hour earlier, at around 8:30 a.m., Williams observed a crowd gathering to witness the predicted arrival of the first quake-triggered waves.

“But it just looked the same as usual,” Young said.

“It was cancelled due to lack of interest,” joked John Gaydowski, who regularly bikes from his Mar Vista home along the coast to Manhattan Beach. Todd Monroe, another bicyclist from Mar Vista, chatted with Gaydowski while standing near the barricades that closed the Manhattan Beach Pier.

“I was wondering if I’d be able to get on the bike path due to the tsunami,” he said. “But I thank God there isn’t one.”

Chris Stolba, dressed in a black helmet and biking togs, left his home in Redondo Beach early in quest of the elusive ocean surge.

“I’ve been hunting tsunamis,” Stolba told Patch. “I heard the whole West Coast was in danger.”

For safety, the bearded young man cycled inland along the Santa Monica cliffs.

“I didn’t see much, so I kept going along PCH to Malibu. Now, I’m on my way south toward Palos Verdes. I’m kind of giving up on finding one at this point.”

Sitting in the sand just south of the pier and a few feet from rolling but normal-looking breakers, Ann Anderson, visiting from Stevensville, Mont., enjoyed a visit with her daughter, Meredith Ryness, granddaughter Mercy, and son-in-law, Bryce, all of New York City. Anderson came to play in the sand with her granddaughter, and cheer on Bryce, who is appearing in the play, “Dangerous Beauty,” at the Pasadena Playhouse (closing this weekend). “I wanted to come to Manhattan Beach before I have to go back in the snow,” Anderson said. “It’s been a long winter.”

Wasn’t she worried about the tsunami threat?

“Well, it doesn’t look too bad to me,” she said, surveying the softly frothing waves and the lone surfer riding the crest of a more distant one as it headed toward shore.

Yes, clearly, just another day at the beach.