A video allegedly showing large waves crashing onto Huntington Beach has circulated widely across social media platforms, with several internet users asserting that the water activity was the result of a tsunami. These online claims emerged following a powerful earthquake that struck Panama on a Friday morning, which had triggered tsunami warnings for various coastal regions in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Easter Island in Chile.
Despite the panic and speculation generated online, the assertion that a tsunami hit California is entirely false. No tsunami warnings were issued for California or any other United States states in the aftermath of the Panama seismic event.
While the footage features genuine high waves breaking on the shore, the turbulent conditions were actually linked to elevated tides and heavy ocean swells driven by Tropical Storm Rachel rather than any tsunami. Concurrently, the nearby coastal area of Newport Beach experienced minor flooding as it contended with the same rough surf and rising tide levels.