Tsunami waves hit Oregon coast after sweeping Hawaii
Car headlights from a steady stream of cars form a line as residents evacuate the coastal town of Seaside, Ore., Friday. Tsunami warnings were issued as a result of an earthquake in Japan.
HONOLULU >> The first waves from a tsunami caused by a Japanese earthquake have reached the U.S. mainland along the Oregon coast.
Geophysicist Gerard Fryer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu says high water reached Port Orford, Ore., around 7:30 a.m. PST Friday.
Officials along the coast activated warning sirens hours earlier to alert people to leave low-lying areas.
The National Weather Service says some of the biggest waves of between 6 and 7 feet were expected to hit near Crescent City, Calif.
People in coastal of Oregon, California and Washington evacuated ahead of the waves Friday.
In Alaska, the tsunami caused a wave just over 5 feet at Shemya in the Aleutian Islands 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage.
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