Tsunami Strikes Crescent City

A tsunami generated by a powerful undersea earthquake near Japan struck the small Northern California fishing port of Crescent City on Wednesday, destroying docks, sinking a boat and fraying nerves.

Bill Steven, a commander with the Del Norte County Sheriff's Department, said the tsunami was "more a series of big surges rather than waves," but he said the damage to the town's harbor was significant.

The surges were reported at 5 to 6 feet high.

"The water surged back and forth like a river, and our docks aren't designed to handle swift water," Steven said. "About 50 percent of the harbor was affected. There's a lot of torn-up foam, wood and concrete. We know at least one boat was sunk, and we had to round up about 12 more that were torn from their moorings."

Steven said no fatalities or injuries were reported.

Crescent City residents are particularly sensitive to tsunami threats. The town was struck by a 21-foot-high tsunami in 1964 that killed 11 people and destroyed most of the town center.

Steven said Del Norte County officials received a notification from the National Weather Service on Wednesday morning that a 3- to 5-foot surge resulting from an 8.1 magnitude quake near Japan would hit the Crescent City region about 11:40 a.m.

"We did have a very small surge at that time, and then everybody went back to business as usual," Steven said.

Then around 2:30, Steven said, residents noticed an ominous sign -- water started running out of the town's harbor, a classic indication of an approaching tsunami.

"You don't like to see that," Steven said. "It looked like a very fast river."

But instead of a large wave, Steven said, the tsunami was manifested as another large surge flowing back into the harbor.

"It went on like that until about 5 p.m., maybe later," Steven said. "Just like a big river surging back and forth. It really hammered our docks. Pieces had to be tied off, whole sections disappeared."

Harbormaster Richard Young, who described the event as a "river within the ocean," estimated the damage to the docks and boats at around $700,000.

Steven said the surges came at a particularly inopportune time for the close-knit, isolated fishing community.

"Everybody was just getting warmed up for the Dungeness crab season," he said. "Unfortunately, this could really slow things down."

Steven, who was born the year after the killer waves hit the town in 1964, said his father often reminisced about the event.

"He was especially amazed by the tremendous field of debris it left," he said. "It's still a major topic of conversation in this town."

A tsunami warning system for the Pacific Coast has since been put in place, but residents say it failed to alert them to Wednesday's surges.

"We hear sirens all the time, but we didn't hear anything for this thing," said Don Thomsen, the manager of the Curly Redwood Lodge. Thomsen said there are three stages to a tsunami alert.

"First you have a warning, then a watch, and then it's get the hell out of town," he said.

Thomsen said he was not aware of Wednesday's tsunami until he heard about it from other townspeople.

"We're only three blocks from the harbor," he said. "We didn't know it was coming."

The incident raised concerns about the efficacy of Northern California's tsunami warning system, which is largely managed by the National Weather Service.

"Our P.A. system didn't work very well," said Clayton Horn, a bartender at the Surfside Grill in Crescent City. "I didn't know anything was going on until someone came by and said, 'Hey, a tsunami is coming. ' "

The National Weather Service could not be reached for comment.

Steven said a tsunami warning is not in effect for the North Coast.

"We are asking people to stay away from the harbor unless they're boat owners, and we need them to exercise caution at the beaches," he said.

Wednesday's quake struck an area claimed by both Russia and Japan, but the waves near Japan did not swell higher than 23 inches. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Six hours later, tsunami waves up to nearly 4 feet caused by the quake crashed into Hawaii's shores, civil defense officials said. There was no serious damage.