Tsunami WARNING for US west coast

[Ghost]

On the off chance anyone sees this before hearing the news, an 8.9 earthquake has hit Japan and a pretty ugly tsunami tore up the low lying coastal areas. The whole Pacific is on tsunami warning. Reports I have heard suggest the west coast of the US will be hit around 8 AM PST. (Hawaii is supposed to get hit about 3AM local time they are saying.)

Certainly hope it's a non-event on our side of the ocean, but thought it worth posting in case anyone sees the board before turning on the TV or radio in the morning. Some of the footage from Japan is pretty ugly.

[Phil S]

Unbelievable video footage of the tidal wave that hit Japan.....I simply cannot imagine what they are going through in Japan right now. Thoughts & prayers are with them. If there's any one good thing, they've been building their buildings to supposedly "handle" this type of quake for awhile now....the tsunami factor is another thing altogether though. A 35 foot wave of water is hard to fathom.

Phil S.

[zelatore]

I haven't been on-line in a few days, so just checking in.

I was actually in the Maui airport getting ready to head back home when I first heard about the tsunami. We had been staying at the Westin Ka'anapali (sp) on West Maui with a 1st floor beach-facing room and didn't know anything about the warning, although I wonder if the front desk people thought we did as we checked out a day early.

At the airport they moved up our departure by about 15 minutes and some time after we had left I understand they closed the airport entirely.

I understand the damage in west Maui was relatively minor, though I haven't seen any pictures. I heard there were some evacuations but none of the resorts were damaged.

Here in California the damage was mostly limited to Santa Cruz in the bay area and Crescent City near the OR boarder. Both took a pretty good beating loosing lots of docks and boats. (well, not so many compared to what the hurricane states face every few years I guess) In the bay itself I haven't heard of any damage. Due to the shape of the bay and it's small entrance I wouldn't expect a tsunami to be a huge threat, but then again I'm just guessing.

A story about Santa Cruz:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_17597857?source=rss_viewed&nclick_check=1