Tsunami sweeps 5 to sea, rips out Calif. docks

CRESCENT CITY, Calif. - A tsunami swept at least five people watching the waves out to sea Friday and ripped docks out of harbors in California, spreading the destruction of a devastating Japanese earthquake to the shores of the United States.

Pictures: Quake, tsunami slam Japan

Four people were rescued from the water in Oregon, but one man who was taking photos in Northern California was still missing Friday afternoon. Coast Guard helicopters searched for him near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County, Calif., after his two friends made it back to shore.

About 25 miles north, four people were swept off a beach north of Brookings, Ore. Two got out of the water on their own and the others were rescued by law enforcement and fire officials.

A man was found dead aboard a commercial vessel in Brookings, but sheriff's officials said it appeared to be from natural causes.

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The large waves shook loose boats in that weren't moved in time and tore apart wooden docks in at least two California harbors.

"This is just devastating. I never thought I'd see this again," said Ted Scott, a retired mill worker who lived in Crescent City when a 1964 tsunami killed 17 people on the West Coast, including 11 in his town. "I watched the docks bust apart. It buckled like a graham cracker."

The waves didn't make it over a 20-foot break wall protecting the rest of the city, and no home damage was immediately reported.

The tide began rising shortly after 7:30 a.m. along beaches in Crescent City, a fishing town of about 7,000 near the Oregon border. The highest wave was measured at 8.1 feet, reports CBS Affiliate KTVL.

"There has been major damage to our harbor," Crescent City Councilman Richard Enea told CBS News. "At least 35 boats by count so far have been damaged or destroyed by the surges and the tsunamis. Our docks have been destroyed."

Damage estimates in Crescent City were in the millions, and more boats and docks were hit in Santa Cruz on California's central coast. Surges are expected throughout the afternoon.

President Barack Obama said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is ready to come to the aid of any U.S. states or territories who need help.

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Enea said the water receding from the harbor leaves boats stuck on the mud at the bottom of the harbor, and then when the surging tsunami waters racing back in, the boats are just dislodged from their mornings and overturned - "tossed about" and smashing into one another.

Local officials activated tsunami warning sirens in Del Norte and Humboldt counties at dawn, and sheriff's deputies went door to door in Crescent City at dawn to urge residents in low-lying areas to seek higher ground.

Officials are telling residents that the waves may not peak until an hour or two after the tsunami's initial arrival.

By mid-morning, waves were crashing against the 30-foot bluffs, as residents gathered on the overlooks to witness the spectacle. At the harbor, officials scrambled to secure fishing boats as surging water knocked some loose from their docks.

On March 28, 1964, a tsunami produced by the 9.2-magnitude earthquake that struck in Prince William Sound, Ala., caused a series of waves to slash across the shores of Washington, Oregon and California, killing 128 people. Eleven people died in Crescent City - the only tsunami-related deaths on the continental U.S.

The topography of Crescent City's coastline in effect channeled the force of a tsunami inland.

The city's commercial district was flattened, and fuel tanks burned.

Pictures: Quake, tsunami slam Japan

[national1942]

God has spoken. Are you listening?

[formrusmcsgt]

What did he say?

[formrusmcsgt]

A tsunami swept at least five people watching the waves out to sea Friday
---
"Hey Dude! Let's go stand in front of a tsunami!"

It's always sad to see one pass.

Even sadder to see them ask for it......

[kennyfrew]

I didn't know Prince William Sound was in Alabama-Heh.

[pragmatist1]

There's no understanding why presumably intelligent individuals would place their lives in jeopardy, given the warnings, over something like this. A stupid reason to die, which was preventable.

[Susan_104]

Gosh I hope the missing guy's pictures came out really good.

Thank you Darwin, you score one more!

[jasjules]

My theory of these frequent eartquakes and tsunamis - Imagine the earth as a solid ball of sand bound together. Over a period of time try taking out one grain of sand at a time from the inside of the sand ball through some technique. After a long time you will see that the sand ball will start collapsing or crumbling. I think this may be happening with our earth where we have been drilling oil and releasing pressurized gases (escaping)like natural gas for ages. Plus all the coal mining deep into the earth all over the world have been causing the earth to collapse slowly. Moreover the weight of the water in the deep seas puts a lot of weight on the earth's thinning crust which is accelerating the shrinking and crumbling the ball of earth with all the other natural activities like plates shifting and "the ring of fire" and the moons gravitational attraction of moon the process of crumbling does not help much eather. I maybe sound stupid - but this is simple physics.

[bikelegs2]

I think if you do some research you'll find you're incorrect, afterall earthquakes have been around long before we ever drilled for oil & coal.

[amadeo123]

I guess mother nature said "the japanese kill my dolphins, roam the world exterminating my whales, they think they can tame me with their industrial capacity, their toyotas, suzukis etc so I guess I'll pay them a visit and after killing several thousands of them I'll leave a radiation leak as homework just to remind them that I can turn industrial riches against them also" ..........let this be a warning to all those that think that their pocketbook, their industries and their greed is above nature and the earth, don't forget to be slaves of your oil and your cars you will be swimming in it and drowning inside them if nature wants it too. wait till the oceans rise a few feet more and we hit with a category 6 hurricane.....think that it took a category 4 to utterly destroy new orleans, none of your barriers were able to stop nature. Keep playing with it.

[larlinc]

Thank You Amadeo!!! I was thinking similar thoughts but thought how terrible with all these people dead. THEN, I thought of the whales and clubbing the dolphins to death because they DARE to eat the fish that we make a profit on! They(like the Chinese) will eradicate a species if it means lining their pockets. Mother Nature showed Japan who is boss!! And to the brave men who put themselves between the whales and the *** whalers; YOU ARE MY HEROES!!!!!!!!!!!

[rwsmith29456]

There are pictures of people going to the beaches TO WATCH THE TSUNAMI. Darwin awards are being freely distributed.

[rwsmith29456]

They were idiots, regardless of their political inclinations.

[bajajohn1]

Some people who have no common sense also now have no life.

[cyagel]

Whoever put the captions on the photos apparently thinks 1964 was in another era. In one of the pictures, a bulldozer (probably Caterpillar, but certainly diesel powered), is shown cleaning debris at Crescent City after the 1964 Tsunami there. The caption calls it a steam shovel! Give me a break! By the time of that picture, the last steam shovel had been rust for over a hundred years!

[poodeelah]

these people knew the risks. it's called thinning the herd.

[poodeelah]

it doesn't justify a death, but this moron was out there just to 'see' a tsunami. some people didn't have a choice, yet he did. he made his choice. just sayin.

[skithebumps]

Raptorsmasher
You're a poor excuse for a human being for calling poodeelah a poor excuse for a human being.
Of course I guess that makes me one too.....