Japanese Tsunami

The big Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011 happened more than five years ago, but debris from that disaster is still washing ashore on the Pacific...

Deadlines to rehouse evacuees have come and gone. It's still not clear when they might go home, and if so, what would they return to?

March 11 marks the fifth anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Visitors to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, can n...

Exactly three years have passed since a huge tsunami in March 2011 took thousands of lives in Japan and washed whole villages out to sea. Suspected…

Workers are waitingin Forks for better weather to start removing a 65-foot long dock that washed ashore on the Washington coast from the Japanese…

The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan served as a wake up call for coastal residents and visitors on our shores. But two years later, it is hard

A team from Washington Fish and Wildlife is trying to figure out whether the newest rusty visitor to the Northwest coast came from the 2011 tsunami in

State and federal biologists say they are confident they have minimized the invasive species threat posed by a derelict dock that washed ashore last month in Olympic National Park. The concrete and steel dock appears to have drifted across the Pacific Ocean after last year's tsunami in Japan. But the story is not over yet. A tsunami debris response team hiked in with scrapers, ratchets and a shovel to a remote Olympic coast beach. National Park Service ecologist Steven Fradkin says the team spent two days cleaning off all the visible sea life clinging to the huge dock, including Japanese seaweeds and barnacles. "From a marine invasive species perspective, I think that we have largely nullified the invasive threat from the dock." Fradkin says the park service is determined to remove the derelict dock from its resting place on a scenic, wilderness beach. It won't be possible to slice it up and haul away the pieces by truck as was done with another tsunami debris dock near Newport, Oregon last summer. Fradkin says the options here include towing the hulk to sea with a tugboat or lifting out chopped-up pieces by helicopter. "This is new territory for everybody," remarked Allen Pleus, aquatic invasive species coordinator for Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife. A coastal section of Olympic National Park around the beached dock remains closed to the public while the government agencies ponder the next step. The size and design of the dock which beached on the Olympic coast is virtually identical to the dock remnant that drifted ashore near Newport. Last June, the Japanese consulate confirmed that Newport debris was set adrift by the March 2011 tsunami from the fishing port of Misawa. On the Web: Forks Dock in Olympic National Park (Washington State Marine Debris Task Force)

Federal, state and tribal officials are attempting to track a large dock that was reported drifting off the coast of Washington state.NOAA spokeswoman…

Winter winds and ocean currents are expected to deposit more debris on the Washington coast from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.State Ecology Department…