Those fossils you are seeing were deposited in the seabed several million years ago, most probably during he Miocene era (roughly 15 million years ago) and have risen to their present position as the Pacific Plate has been bumping northward, rubbing against the North American Plate. Geologists are beginning to document pysical traces of tsunamis, as reported in the article. They are a definite fact of life along any coast.

One of the more notable tsunamis in southern California was one in 1812, triggered by an earthquake with an epicenter in the Santa Barbara Channel. The wave reached almost to the steps of the Santa Barbara Mission.