tsunami
In northern California near the Oregon border, a man who went to the coast to photograph the incoming wave was swept out to sea by the powerful surge, officials said. Coast Guard helicopters are searching for him near the mouth of the Klamath River, according to the Coast Guard. Four other men in Oregon were swept off a beach in Brookings, Ore. Two made it back to shore on their own and two others were rescued by emergency crews, the Coast Guard said.
The surge smashed boats and wreck docks in the California cities of Santa Cruza and Crescent City. The tsunami was strongest in Crescent City which was smacked with an 8-foot tall wave that destroyed the city's piers and sank boats.
via ABC News.
peril
Japanese authorities and the U.S. military on Saturday were racing to find ways to deliver new backup generators or batteries to a nuclear power reactor whose cooling facilities have been crippled by a loss of power as a result of the earthquake. The reactor, owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co., is currently drawing on battery power that may last only a few hours. Without electricity, the reactor will be unable to pump water to cool its hot reactor core, possibly leading to a meltdown or some other release of radioactive material.
via The Washington Post.
