Tsunami comes to America

Tsunamis arising from an earthquake near Japan hit the west coast of the United States, destroying at least one harbor and evacuating thousands of people.

Unusual waves hit the west coast of the United States about 12 hours after intense seismic attacks in Japan.

NHK's videoclip describes the car scene
swept in tsunami. Photo: AP

Northern California issued a tsunami warning before waves reached about 2 meters high. More than three dozen boats and a harbor were damaged by the tsunami.

However, the intensity of the tsunami has diminished much after it crossed the great gap on the vast ocean. The state of Oregon also faces tsunamis but they are not too big.

"The tsunami has come here, the ocean rises and falls as if there are tides and tides every 30 minutes, instead of every 6 hours as usual, " Mike Murphy, head of Port's emergency affairs agency. Orford, Oregon, said.

" It is clear that the tsunami caused that phenomenon, " AFP quoted him as saying, adding that larger waves are expected to come next.

In a small town also in this state, local government officials said the waves were not too big. " We saw the first tsunami, which is relatively small. We don't think there will be big waves here, " the official commented.

In Los Angles, California, the USS Dubuque US Navy ship was alerted to move away, to a safe area when a tsunami struck.

California's volunteer rescue team, who recently returned from helping save the earthquake in New Zealand for a day, is also available to help the Japanese people.

It is expected that tsunamis will reach some Central and South American countries like Mexico and Chile. Canada also ordered a tsunami warning, requiring people to evacuate people and property in low-lying areas that could be flooded.

Before hitting the west coast of the Americas, the tsunami swept across the Pacific Ocean, making Hawaii and the island nations in the region vigilant and implementing damage mitigation measures. A series of countries and territories in Asia have issued a tsunami warning after the disaster occurred in Japan this afternoon.