Huge waves generated from the yesterday’s tsunami in Japan have hit the coastline of California on Friday morning. Panic spread among the visitors as boats standing there got capsized and docks got splintered. Seaside spectators from Eureka to Santa Cruz started running to a higher ground.
Yesterday’s earthquake was the worst ever one in Japan in the past 140 years. The earthquake measured 8.9 on the Ritcher scale. About 1300 people till now have been reported to be dead. The casualty and number of deaths may increase in due time.
One person was taking pictures and he was swept away by the surging waters in Northern California. He is still missing at the time when this story is being reported. A few persons have been saved by the rescue team from the flashing waves. Name of USA was there among the list of 20 nations who were warned of the effects of the devastating tsunami that rocked Japan.
A state of emergency has been announced by Governor Jerry Brown in some parts of California. These parts include DelNorte, Humboldt, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz harbor was worst affected as two huge waves surged on the harbor, one at 8 am and the second one, around 11 am.
About 30 boats in the harbor have been completely washed away and many of the smaller boats got sunk. Onlookers said the feeling was that there was an explosion on the dock. Roads and parking lots alongside Highway 17 and Mount Madonna got jammed as people were evacuating just to save their lives and family.
It is considered to be the worst tsunami damage to California coast since the Alaska earthquake in the year 1964.
