Tsunami waves Brushes Hawaii and the East Coast

Tsunami waves swamped Hawaii beaches and brushed the U.S. western coast spawned by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan today. 

Kauai was the first of the Hawaiian islands struck by the tsunami, water rushed ashore at least 11 feet high near Kealakekua Bay, on the west side of the Big Island. Flooding was reported on Maui, and water washed up on roadways on the Big Island.

High waters reached the U.S. western coast by 11:30 a.m. EST Friday, after evacuations were ordered and beaches closed all along the coast.

In Alaska, a dozen small communities along the Aleutian Island chain were on alert, but there were no reports of damage from a wave just over 5 feet.

Officials in two coastal Washington counties used an automated phone alert system, phoning residents on the coast and in low-lying areas and asking them to move to higher ground.

In Oregon, sirens blasted in some coastal communities and at least one hotel was evacuated in the northern part of the state. Restaurants, gift shops and other beachfront business stayed shuttered, and schools up and down the coast were closed.

The tsunami warning was issued Friday at 3:31 a.m. EST. Sirens were sounded about 30 minutes later in Honolulu alerting people in coastal areas to evacuate. About 70 percent of Hawaii's 1.4 million population resides in Honolulu, and as many as 100,000 tourists are in the city on any given day.

Source: AP