minute. the epicenter is about 230 miles north and east of tokyo, more than 60 people now reported dead so far. and check out this new home video we are just getting into taken as the 1: massive earthquake hit. aheadcc1:ike books and go and take over from here. are falling bookscc1:cc1: off shelves. we are getting video like this out of japan. we'll share the impact this earthquake has had all morning. in the meantime, here's a live look at the golden gate bridge this morning. the quake generated a destructive tsunami in japan. the wave will eventually hit the bay area. so the tsunami warning is issued from alaska along the entire california coast. we'll tell you what to expect from that and when it hits as it is expected to hit here in three hours. good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. i'm brent cannon. i'm laura garcia-cannon. team coverage of the breaking news out of japan as well as the

sue nam north korea tsunami going on. let's go to christina loren who is keeping tabs on this. focus will shift from tsunami to the weekend later today. as the situation continues to improve as we go lower and lower in terms of the wave heights anticipated with this tsunami, and now of course that it corresponds with low tide, i think that people are kind of starting to relax a little bit. we still need to keep the guard up with a couple hours to watch. of course it will impact hawaii right now if not in the next ten to 15 minutes. so for us today, what i can tell you is after we get past all the breaking news we'll see a pretty nice day in the bay. 49 in san mateo. 51 in sunnyvale, 52 in santa cruz. with the potential for a tsunami a lot of people are concerned if areas.ake up in low-lying cc1: roadways cc1: if the are busier. are people evacuating right now? everybody is doing as you advised, keeping their level heads for the most part.

that's the big word of the day, maintain even flow of your adrenaline right now. we'll give you updates as the wave should be hitting hawaii right now as you said. so we should be getting updates, and that's an issue. highway 1 between point lobos right along the coast is closed because they don't want a lot of spectators heading out to see the big waves. mind.at incc1: i also got the update from b.a.r.t. they are making the call in the next few minutes of whether or not they will provide service under the water with the connector from oakland to the san francisco side does travel under the bay. we'll make that call. i'll give you updates as they give them to me. we are looking at 101 along the coast, that's a low-lying area near candlestick park and also the dumbarton.cc1: bridge. more on that coming up. of course, mass destruction in japan this morning after that 8.9 earthquake. it triggered a devastating tsunami that we are talking about. dozens of people are dead, biddings buildings completely

destroyed, and millions face an uncertain future this morning. >> so far it is the world's strongest earthquake in more than six years. hard to believe there have been powerful.cc1: 9.0 in sumatra before that. miles ruck about 230cc1: north of tokyo. of course, they did feel it in tokyo as well. so far more than 60 people are concerned dead and many more missing. this is the tsunami, a 33-foot wave laura talked about swept inland. you can see looking in that debris you'll see boats and houses and a lot of debris as it goes across the rural land here, but it did devastate a lot of coastal towns. you can see the wave moving across and sweeping inland in japan this morning. are seeing rportscc1: significant damage north of tokyo. bullet train service is also canceled there. million homes are without power. we don't know how many of them are destroyed. as you can see, some buildings

are on fire as they are swept away. this is video from an oil refinery that's raging out of control, there's fire there outside of tokyo. cosmo oil refinery and the storage tanks caught fire after the earthquake. at least 11 nuclear power plants are also shut down but the government says that's mostly a precaution. they do not see any of them leaking radiation right now. more than 20 aftershocks have been hitting japan since the big earthquake and a lot of those, the aftershocks are at least a magnitude of 6.3. aftershocks are also highly powerful. again, some of the destruction streetside in some of the coastal towns of japan this morning. the tsunami we have been showing you is now heading across the pacific ocean as we speak. it is expected to hit the hawaiian islands any minute now. they could actually be seeing the water levels rising as we speak. >> people in hawaii have been warned all night and have been heading to higher ground. in fact, the tsunami warning is

in effect for the entire pacific coast. and the wave could hit california at about 8:00 this morning. the wave in hawaii could be as high as 7 feet higher than normal. tsunami waves are different than regular surf waves in that they wrap around islands affecting all coasts. as we have seen before, the waves are long and every wave crest can last five to ten minutes or more. >> for more on what people are doing in hawaii and what they expect, we'll go to gene park from our nbc station in hawaii this morning. gene, good morning, can you hear us? >> yes, i'm actually from the honolulu advertiser here, the newspaper here. >> good morning. we appreciate you joining us here. we know you can tell us firsthand here. we have been talking about the wave coming. in and of itself it doesn't sound like a big deal, but one of the experts we talked to said the waves accumulate. so you see the rising water level. what does that mean and what are

people doing in and around the hawaiian islands today? >> the biggest wave is expected to come on the big island because of the harbor there, the way it is built, it kind of looks like an igloo chamber. it will build up in there. we are on oahu, so we really don't have anyone out there. we do have a reporter out there, but i can't see anything out there. from honolulu already a boor harbor the last projection was three feet high for us. >> are people doing anything different, if you are at a hotel and are on ground level, are you being told to get up higher or keep an eye on the surf? >> all the hotels here are at 80% occupancy, so it is good. a lot of the hotels are full and everyone has been asked to move three floors up or higher. that's always in a concrete or building.forcedcc1: all of waikiki is in that zone.

>> there are a lot of highways in low-lying areas. see s the kind of area tocc1: something washed out or water to close down a highway. >> exactly. every single road that's by the coast has been closed down. any road that's in the tsunami inundation zone is closed now. a.m.s closed at 2:00cc1: it is 3:00 a.m. now. get incc1: or out. there's air patrols telling people to evacuate as well. >> do you know if there are certain parts of the island, in other words, is one side more impacted by the : tsunami than the opposite side of the island. we talk about a sue knee tsunami wave wrapping around the island. if it is on this side, it is a big deal, but on the other side it is not that big of a deal. >> reporter: forecasters say for the famous north shore of oahu they are expecting waves close to six feet. then honolulu and way kiki are

expecting more water coming in on the northern and western sides. parks live in hawaii this morning where the tsunami could be hitting any minute now. the warning itself extends to the bay area and most of the west coast. waves are expected to hit the bay area beaches about 8:00 this morning. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is live at the marina green in san francisco with more. thank you for getting up early. >> reporter: hey, no problem, you guys. this certainly is big news right back here in the bay area where you just mentioned we are under a tsunami warning. this tsunami warning is enormous. it stretches from the washington/oregon border all the way down to santa barbara. look back here behind me, of course, the iconic golden gate bridge. down below it the water always churning up, even on a regular day, but as we head into the next two hours we are expecting what we call this wave action to increase the heights to about possibly two to four feet higher

than normal levels. so will this cause major flooding? we do not think so as this point. are there evacuations in the bay area? not right now, but as we heard from earlier reports in crescent city they are evacuating those regions and the beaches are also closed. yes, while we are out at the beach this morning, we are prepared to take shelter and seek it immediately if needed be. but you do not need to be heading out here to the beaches. this is the kind of force underneath the ocean that you just cannot see, that if you want to head out to surf or get in the water and say, i want to experience this, that is the kind of pull and force underneath the water that you just can't sense that can take you under and certainly could take lives. do not head into the water today. that's my advice at this point. and once again, in two hours we'll start to feel the impacts from this wave action. you know, as we mentioned, it is always pretty rough out on the seas but it will get rougher

heading into 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. >> yeah, you have to play it safe out there. thank you very much, jeff. we'll check back with you again. because of the potential emergency officials in the bay area are watching that wave as it moves across the pacific. we'll continue our coverage with marla tellez live at the department of emergency services in san francisco with more details. marla, i know that they have been watching this thing as it comes in. we are trying to get the estimates about how big it will be and those keep changing. what do they think right now? >> reporter: well, brent, to tell you the truth right now, they are using a, quote, overabundance of precaution. the deputy director here at the department of emergency management tells me that he doesn't think the tsunami is going to hit. he's not trying to underestimate its force, but he certainly doesn't want people to panic. first and foremost, they want to point out an evacuation has not been ordered for san francisco residents. of course, if you do live on the

coast, it goes without saying, just to be smart about it. and as we are telling you this morning, do not go to the beaches. the beaches are closed. our jeff ranieri just said that. the national park service has closed the beaches. ocean beach, china beach, baker beach, fort t funston. and the highway 1 is closed as a precaution measure. the folks here are in touch with the california emergency management agency assessing the risks for the bay area. as a result, they have put together what they are calling an incident management team. it is made up of san francisco police, fire, department of public works and the port of san francisco, just to name a few of the agencies. again, the waves, if they arrive, should come to the bay area shortly after 8:00 this morning. i put a call into the national weather service this morning. they say obviously stay away from the beaches. again, just stay informed so you

know what we are facing this morning. now, the emergency department here does have its outdoor public warning system in place and ready to go. those are the sirens that they have set up at the beaches here. if you live near them, you know what i'm talking about. they sound every tuesday at noon as a test measure. but if need be they will sound this morning, again, the officials here at the department of emergency management in san francisco do not think a tsunami is going to hit. they have not issued an evacuation order. you should not just ignore our calls to use caution this morni morning. stay tuned. marla tellez for "today in the bay." >> sounds more like it is precautionary now. >> we don't want people to panic, but we want to give you the information you need to make the right decisions. right now we want to check in with christina as well because there could be a flood watch in effect. >> yes, we have good things in terms of timing working in our

favor this morning. the tsunami warning is in place for us between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and what that means is it will correspond with low tide. so we aren't going to see as much of an impact as places like crescent city. also, the way the wave breaks in that area has a lot to do with the impact and wave height. if you see that column squeeze together, that wave is going to be larger. so this is definitely something to play out in the next couple of hours. and we are able to bring it to you live. that's something that did not happen when we saw the sumatra tsunami. after all this excitement we'll see a nice day on tap. temperatures right now are in the 50s. we expect to climb to the 60s under mostly sunny conditions. for the next two hours i guarantee you we'll bring you everything that breaks that has to do with the tsunami warning. we are all over it right here at nbc bay area. back to you. thank you, christina. >> we want to check in with mike. the earthquake is impacting our commute this morning.

b.a.r.t. is taking precautionary measures. >> that's right. b.a.r.t., we are still waiting them, brent. they are making a decision right now, likely broed on data coming in from hawaii as some of the tsunami and the powerthf oe ocean hits hawaii. we'll see how that reflects upor the local .areaf they will anticipate what they could see forar e nnels und the bay. no delays reported now. the system is running on time, but again, they are looking for the winw between 7:00 and 9:00 where chr wtina said the tsunami warning is extended for the bay. so far you are okay getting through the area. you'll be fine after the tsunami likely as we expect lower waves. that will raise the water levels, so highway 1, the great highway has been closed near point lobos. for spectators, don't head out. watch the waves. watch live pictures out of the area. lower areas like the dumbarton bridge on the newark side, watch it because the water levels will raise all throughout the bay, even in this area just -- this is not the coastal area, this is

the coast of newark and fremont, but this could cause flooding there. we'll watch that carefully as well. thank you very much. we are getting word right now that the tsunami has hit hawaii already. we don't know how big it has been or what damage has been done, if any at all. >> continuing coverage coming up. stay tuned. cc1:

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right now we are covering breaking news. lapin has thecc1: latest on our markets.cc1: i'm assuming japan markets are closed today. >> reporter: yes, what happens trickles over1: c to europe, and that trickles

over to us. that's what we are seeing now. futures are significantly lower with stocks trading lower in cc: asia and lower in europe after the powerful earthquake rocked japan. this is adding to broader economic worrying and concerns on unrest in the middle east. suffered ajor indicescc1: sizable declined yesterday. the dow lost 228 points to 11,984. that, as you know, is below the key psychological 12,000 mark time since1:firstcc january 31st. so it looks like we are going to see a pretty rough open when markets do, indeed, open in a couple hours on wall street. we will watch how this affects the financial markets coming up. thank you, nicole. of course, we are watching how the tsunami itself is affecting several different cc1: areas, including it already hitting hawaii this morning. >> they expected it around 5:00. we have live pictures coming

from hawaii this morning. and not sure exactly what you can see in this shot here. again, these are just coming to us live from hawaii. the big concern with the coastal areas, they expected the tsunami to be kind of in the seven-foot range originally. they were downgraded to three feet. that doesn't sound like a big deal when you think of a tsunami wave. you tend to think of a big giant coming in. that's not the thing. the water hits the coast and piles up. here's some more live pictures. >> these are live pictures from our affiliate down there. in fact, we want to listen in. >> we were standing out there for an awfully long time. it is just amazing with all the technology and with all the information that we have and all he buoys out there, you werecc: seeing 19 now, even with a the data we just don't know what's coming. it could come over the period of a few hours. we have to wait and watch and be prepared for the worst and hope the he best throughoutcc1: morning. >> we are just looking at what they are doing in hawaii. the wave comes in, it is not

just onal massive thing. t comes into a harbor andcc1: stacks up. most waves flow right back out, but in the case of a sue noom me a it lingers. then another wave comes and the first wave hasn't cleared. so it gets deeper and deeper. >> you have a different formation. >> right. that's the thing. it's where you get flooding in harbors or low-lying areas. that's what we are watching for this morning. it sounds like a three-foot wave isn't a big deal, that's why you want to watch what's going on. we'll continue our special coverage of the massive earthquake that rocked japan overnight. here's what we know right now. the death toll continues to climb after the 8.9 quake struck in the northeastern part of japan. it caused spontaneous fires to erupt as you see in the photos here. we know at least 60 people are reported dead. that count could climb. most of the damage seems to be from a 33-foot tsunami wave that inundated the area. it is widespread.

4 million homes remain without power. we spoke to a man from san rafael who was working in tokyo when the shaking started. >> well, it started shaking, we get quakes occasionally and being from the bay area i'm kind of used to it. but it started shaking and started getting worse and worse. and i was sitting at my desk and decided i probably better get under the doorway. and then it started getting even worse. so that's when i was kind of getting scarred. >> an 8.9, masses of people trying to figure out where to go. train service shut down in much of japan, so a lot of these people are trying to get to buses. the quake hit during the work day, so a lot of people haven't been able to get home to see what kind of damage they have at home. inspectors are still checking for cracks all along the train lines. and then we have some video of the road damage as well. this looks inside an airport or transition. then you can see -- just the road separated there. >> it buckled, look at that. >> and this is going to be

interesting. a lot of scientists are going to want to take a look at this kind of damage. this is going to tell them exactly what kind of earthquake it was and what happened. they propagate data in different ways, and that affects the type of damage, it affects the tsunami and everything. so you want to go to an area like this to study and learn what you can. but then you can see the water from the tsunami reaching inland entiret devastating thatcc1: area there. >> it is hard to look at this morning. a flood watch remains in effect for the bay area. we want to check in with christina loren. >> yes, guys, good morning to you. wow, what a way to wake up on a friday morning, huh? tsunami warning in place for the entire bay area coast. in fact, the whole bay is under a tsunami warning. we are expecting it some time between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. we don't have any mandatory evacuations in san francisco. we have been talking about some potential evacuations in low-lying areas of san mateo

county. we'll talk about that coming up with mike inouye, but i want to break down what this means for us today. you want to avoid the beaches, the harbors, the marinas, don't think about protecting your boat, we talking about a one-foot wave. it is really just like bret explained, it is like a wall of water that will bring a lot of water our way at once. a lot of force. we are talking about a wave that can travel up to 650 miles per hour under the ocean. and it is also going to bring up some muck and mud. and it will definitely change the topography of the sea floor. there's a lot of science that goes into this. we'll be studying this tsunami for quite some time, years to come, as a matter of fact. so for us today, the weather looks pretty good after we get past all the excitement. it is friday, we are looking to a nice weekend with rain on the way. not for today, not for tomorrow, it looks like sunday. today and tomorrow look pretty good. partly cloudy conditions. we'll take you through the forecast, after all, life goes on after what happens here today. we'll keep you updated in the

bay area all morning long. back to you guys. cin rist christina, 5:23. more continuing coverage of the breaking news coming up. [ wheezing breaths ] [ woman ] the first time i smoked, i was 13. i was in a hurry to grow up and wanted to look cool. big tobacco knew it, and they preyed on me. i'm here to tell you that big tobacco hasn't changed. they continue to profit... by selling kids the same lies...

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good morning, folks. 5:26. still in a tsunami warning for the bay area. we are watching highway 1, the great highway, i'm sorry, is closed near point lobos because they don't want spectators near the area. jeff ranieri is giving us live updates throughout the morning. the golden gate bridge will see the wave at 8:08 this morning. a live shot shows us what things are look like right now. very calm, no problems as far as the drive into the city. everyone is maintaining a level head so far. the bay bridge, no problems there. an easy drive in from the east bay over to the san francisco side. a light volume right now. expect friday light throughout the bay. that's what we are seeing right now aflt. a note for folks near the dumbarton bridge, you may see

higher water levels passing by the radio towers and the lower section on the east bay side. i'll monitor any reports of lane that is have to be shut down. the tsunami is not just a wave but a surge of the water level likely to come up. right now we want to check in with scott mcgrew. he's checking the media and social internet to see how people are getting information and communicating with each other. >> the national weather service and the tsunami warning all online. twitter has been carrying warnings on this all day. looking atcc1: the pictures coming to us from tourists in hawaii as well. we have been looking at web cams trying to hope to get some sort of picture to you as the wave hits in hawaii. but as you might imagine, most of those are down this morning justcc1: not prepared to take that kind of traffic. this is one web cam that is working. this is coming out of hawaii. it will hit hawaii first. what happens to hawaii will be

something that they are watching givecc1: us it will more information as far as they tidal information and bow wees and whatnot. pictures coming in from tourists in hotels. we'll show those to you in a little bit. [ male announcer ] hi lauren and greg, what's up? we're getting the day started with athenos greek yogurt. later we're gonna ride bikes and go to the -- [ male announcer ] wonderful! let's see what yiayia thinks. are you two married? um, no. but you living together, ah? yeah. you are going to hell. [ male announcer ] don't worry, kids.

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a massive 8.9 earthquake rocks japan this morning and triggers a tsunami. >> the wave moved across the pacific ocean is now hitting hawaii. girard with us is with the pacific warning center in hawaii. good morning, can you hear us, girard? >> yes, i can. good morning. >> we have been talking about the tsunami, are you seeing it and feeling the effects? are you able to measure it? >> yes, it arrived on kauai and oahu a few minutes ago. it is sweeping down the island. so far the first wave is fairly

small, only about 90 some meters. so that's like a foot and a half or something. but we'll know in about 15 minutes if it is going to be bad. >> so what are you watching for here? are you looking for a large wave that comes in? are you watching nor this kind of accumulation as the water stacks up on itself? >> reporter: it is the succession of waves that as they come into bays they can or will rock back and forth. as each wave comes in it could build up higher and higher. a tsunami is not just one wave, it is a whole bunch of waves. and they can be separated by a considerable amount of time, like 20 minutes or so. so it is going to take us about 15 to 20 minutes before we know whether we have trouble on our hands. >> and how are you able to monitor them there?

>> there are tide gauges in just about every port and harbor in the world. there's a little device or pressure gauge or something for measuring water level so that you can figure out when the tides are for shipping. and those things measure tsunamis really well. of course, we also have the sea floor gauges out in the middle of the ocean. >> we are talking about, you know, the wave is hitting you guys about now. and then we were talking about it coming and hitting california about 8:00. so you are looking at about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. how fast is this wave moving because it is about a five-hour flight from california to hawaii, so the waves have to be moving faster than a jetliner to get here in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. >> it is moving at the speed of a jet liner, but the reason it is getting to the west coast faster is because the west coast is not seeing the energy that comes from hawaii. it is seeing the energy that comes directly from japan.

it is a slightly shorter path. but it is basically traveling at 500 miles an hour. >> all right. gerard, thank you for taking time this morning. you are going to continue to monitor this. and we'll try to check in with you again later this morning. thank you for your expertise. >> you're welcome. many here in the bay area are watching the wave as it moves across the pacific. we'll continue our coverage with marla tellez live at the department of emergency management in san francisco. the details about the tsunami literally are changing as it comes in. what do they expect right now for us? >> reporter: good morning, laura. behind us here is the operation center within the department of emergency management. and right now all sorts of officials on the phone, manning the phones, they are in a conference call right now with the california emergency management agency. joining me now live is rob

duggin. what's the latest for your department? >> you are premature to get the latest because that's happening on the conference call right now. we have not received any new changes of information. we are still working with the model that we had in the previous discussion, we are still looking at a fairly low-key event. >> reporter: the number one thing to point out, no evacuation orders. >> that's absolutely correct. we are not asking anybody to evacuate the waterfront in san francisco. we have as a precaution closed the beaches and great highway. this is all really as an overabundance of precaution, but again to go back to what i have been saying all morning, to put this in context, the amount of water rise we are really looking at is less than a high tide. do so we do not expect a high impact. >> reporter: what's going on behind us here? >> this is the emergency operation center. at 1:00 this morning we convened a management team to kind of gather all the data we could

coordinate with all the departments. so primarily the people here, there are a few other diplomats here, this is primarily the department of emergency personnel. we have an incident management team convening that also includes other departments, but we didn't make them get up to come in here. we have been able the to manage everything via conference calls. >> reporter: rob duggin, thank you for your time this morning. the number one thing to keep in mind, no evacuation order but the beaches are closed as is the great highway this morning. that's the latest from here, marla tellez for "today in the bay." thank you, marla. meantime, we'll which ek check in with christie smith live at the u.s. geological survey in menlo park. christie, what can scientists el us? i know they are gathering information about the earthquake in japan. what do they know so far? >> reporter: good morning to you. i can tell you that as you can imagine the usgs has a team of seismologists working around the clock on this. they are expected to open up

soon here in menlo park. i spoke with one of the seismologists by phone, and what he's telling me is that this could end up being in the top five earthquakes since the 1900s. this magnitude 8.9 earthquake. he's also saying they are dealing with the tsunami, huge waves, horrific devastation, but also aftershocks. what he's saying is that there have been at least 52 aftershocks of nag any attitude 5.0 or larger. at one point he says they are coming every eight minutes. i asked how long people might have felt this, he tells me that depending on where you were standing, when this hit, it could have felt like this was happening for at least two minutes. now, compare that with the one recently in new zealand, that one rattled for maybe 15 to 20 seconds. also, there are different plates involved here than in san francisco. he's also telling me to give you some perspective, the loma

prieta earthquake in 1982 was a magnitude 6.2. this one was 900 times stronger because they grow exponentially. i also asked about tsunami watch over in hawaii, and there have been a series of small earthquakes, a magnitude 2.0 and 2.3. i asked if those have anything to do with what happened in japan, but the seismologists are telling me they don't think so. that probably has more to do with volcanic activity that has been going on there. that's the latest from here, reporting live in men low park, christie smith for "today in the bay." thank you, christie. it is fascinating, i have been conversing on my phone with a friend of mine who is in japan on facebook who is describing what she felt and just the aftershocks that are happening there. >> not only two weaken infrastructure, but just for people in general, you kind of psychologically have a big giant earthquake and then continually for several days or weeks the strong aftershocks.

it gets to be nerve-racking after a while. in the meantime, let's go to christina loren who is looking at our local forecast and watching the waves as well. the good news, the tsunami is not that big when it will hit san francisco, but it also comes at low tide. that's good news. >> yes, exactly. the two correspond just perfectly for the time being. we have a series of buoys set up throughout the pacific ocean, so that is giving us information as to how tall the tsunami is and when it is expected to arrive. we are watching it very closely, but as brent pointed out the situation is getting a little bit better. i think the biggest concern is beach erosion, coastal flooding, but you do want to avoid the beaches, harbors and marinas until 10:30 today. as we have been telling you we are not just going to see one large surge. we are going to see several surges of water coming up towards the coast as we head throughout the morning starting between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. these are long period waves so they come about 15 minutes one after the other. we are going to have to wait and

see what happens. and it is something that's going to develop right on live television. so we'll bring it to you every single minute of the way. 49 degrees in san francisco right now. i think today will be a pretty nice day once we all make our way to work. 58 degrees is the forecasted high in oakland. 58 in fremont. we have rain on the way for the weekend, but we'll get two really nice days out of it first. the extended forecast is coming up. we'll check the roads and see how they are upfaring right now. ap. ts there's a lot of buzz over the b.a.r.t. system. the roadways are relatively light. we expect that.ror friday light. we were watching for an update from bart. f no service interruption. near oakland and the san francisco side, b.a.r.t. goes through a tunnel under the cc1: water, so they were watching for any warning signs in hawaii. it sounds like the should be imaginable for the tunnel. they won't interrupt service between 7:00 and 9:00, but we'l: continue to monitor the t situation. b.a.r.t. says that may change. they will update us so far. so far no interruptions of

service throughout the area. as marla has been telling us and jeff ranieri, the great highway and the beaches are closed down. do not go out to see the waves. it is not safe to do that. stick with us, we'll show you what we can. meanwhile, they are going to raise the level throughout the bay. good timecc corresponding tide.the low 1: otherwise that could have been an issue for the dumbarton bridge on the newark side. we'll watch for that as water levels raise throughout the bay, that could be a concern for folks heading off 84 near 880 and the bridge itself. we'll also remember the bay bridge, it is commute time, but not a major issue so far. friday light coming off the cartinas bridge. remember, even in that area, you are along the water. that water will rise, too. of course, that powerful tsunami triggered by the 8.9 earthquake that slammed the eastern coast of japan, now on to the hawaiian islands and to tually it will get herecc1: the united states at 8:00 this morning. tracie potts is live in washington, d.c., with reaction from the president. tracie, i know the japanese leaders are asking for assistance. has the president talked about

that? >> reporter: well, we know from the pentagon at least six ships in the vicinity are moving toward japan. they are going to be part of what you can imagine is going to be a massive humanitarian aid effort. they don't have a sense of what the massive damage is from this yet. in terms of ships in hawaii, because of the waves just starting to hit there, they are going to stay in port as well as those down in san diego. the state department telling us: that they have moved their embassy out of tokyo just as a precaution that they are not aware of any americans hurt, and early on the pentagon this morning told us that all u.s. service members in japan are accounted for. so that's certainly good news for people who have family members who are working there. but as i said, president obama has now directed the federal emergency management agency to start working with california and with other states as necessary, if, in fact, they need aid from other states and from the federal government.

he got the wake-up call just a little over an hour after the initial earthquake when we started to see some of those devastating effects from the tsunami. >> thank you, tracie. i appreciate it. i know everybody is watching that and getting ready to offer assistance. hopefully it won't be needed, but we appreciate the update from washington, d.c., this morning. it is 5:42. we'll continue to keep you updated on everything that's go o n,japaai hawndi,n a japan, hawaii, and here in the bay area.cc1: cc1:cc: :

welcome back, everyone. we continue to follow the breaking news out of japan this morning. we are bringing you some new video just into our newsroom. this is the airport practically under water this morning there. 1,100 people are stranded right now at the terminal of the airport. the power is also out right now. you can see the runways and how they are just inundated with all the water this morning. they are having a tough time with flights in and out of there

completely canceled. this morning we have word of thousands of people just roaming the streets of tokyo. thousands are stranded in offices and train stations as well. the country's trained network is completely shut down while investigators look at the damage to the tracks. 10 million people take trains in the tokyo area every single day. so this is really bringing life to a standstill. in fact, we are hearing some people are giving up and trying to walk home to the suburbs. the quake hit at 2:45 friday afternoon their time, so a lot of people were at work and trying to leave to get out of the building to go home and now they can't. people are lining up along phone booths because cell phone service is failing to work. >> that's kind of an interesting thing. you and i keep a good old fashioned land line phone at our house because if you have a big earthquake in california, the cell service goes out and that could be the only way you can communicate. right now we want to go to christina loren keeping tabs on

the forecast for today, but also the situations associated with the tsunami warning we have this morning. >> going back to what you just pointed out having the land line, this is just as good of a time as any to make sure you have your earthquake plan in place. you always want to make sure you are prepared because you get little to no warning when it comes to situations like tsunamis. of course, we live in earthquake country here in northern california. so this is what we are expecting as we have been pointing out all morning long between 7:30 and 8:30 we expect the tsunami to hit our coast. avoid the beaches and harbors and the marinas the next couple of hours. after about 10:00 a.m. i think things will get more calm here and they will focus on the weekend ahead. 46 in hayward. 44 in san mateo. 50 degrees in santa cruz. we'll see a pretty nice day today. a pretty nice day tomorrow as well. then the rain returns on sunday. we'll wrap up the rain chances each and every day next week. today looks pretty good.

get outside if you can. 58 degrees in oakland. 58 in fremont. we'll watch that as we head throughout the next hour. hey girls, do this...

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the dry to moisturized collections from pantene. we were the first to ban smoking on airplanes. the first to have smoke-free bars and restaurants. all while saving over $86 billion in health care costs... and over a million lives. we've done a good job. but even if you were born today, you'd still grow up in a world where tobacco kills more people... than aids, drugs, alcohol, murder and car crashes... combined. we have a lot more work to do. good morning, everybody. it is 5:49. a live look outside at 880 through oakland this morning. things are moving smoothly there, but you want to pay attention to the roads near the bay area today. >> the tsunami warning remains in effect due to the quake that happened in japan. we are expecting one to

one-and-a-half-foot waves in the bay area. low-lying areas of candlestick will probably see the biggest threat. >> watch the low-lying roads, right, mike? that's right. we'll take you to the maps and let that car get distance. driving along 101 up the peninsula from san mateo through millbrae approaching candlestick park, the water is just along the water edge. as the water raises it will raise the entire bay when a tsunami comes into the area. that could have more of an effect than just the initial wave under the golden gate bridge. they have closed the great highway where the police car is indicated near point lobos and lake mersaid. it sounds like things will be manageable and evacuations are not a big concern for folks. there are evacuation centers at

pacifica. if you want to head inland, you can go in that direction. this is a friday kickoff for the slowing for highway 4. the bay bridge sits not showing issues. the backup in the cash lanes because not all the lanes are open. this will thin out over the next 15 minutes. friday light for most of the east bay, that's great news including the livermore and tri-valley area. drive out of the altamont pass. this is an area in the bay area, we are talking about a tsunami warning, but these folks are fa: enough inland. >> the tsunami warning, in fact, is along the whole west coast. san diego is also on alert. we continue with monica dean right now. sans live in mission bay incc1: diego county at lifeguard headquarters. good morning. >> reporter: that's right, good morning, laura. what this is now is the command post for the tsunami response here in san diego. what lifeguards tell me they are expecting here in san diego is about a 2.3-foot surmg of water

starting at 8:41 this morning. to two hours.upcc1: and while they are saying it is not a reason for anyone to panic, they are saying people should stay out of the water. they should stay away from the beaches. and really stay clear of any coastal areas. san diego lifeguards and police arrived here overnight to enact the tsunami plan. they have increased patrols along the coast and also brought in about a dozen extra lifeguards. they want to emphasize that the beaches here in san diego are not closed. there's already misinformation about beach closures and police enforcement of that. this is merely an advisory because as you know places south of point conception, california, are under an advisory. that's different than the warning for those of you up north. it is really less serious but still a concern. and lifeguards and police are working together this morng to make sure that they are enacting a plan and keeping the coastal areas safe and keeping people up-to-date and advised on what's happening at 8:41 this morning.

again, public safety agents are out in force this morning. they are expecting the surge of water to last or start at 8:41. we are at command post headquarters and we'll stay here all morning to bring you up-to-date on what's happening down south in san diego. monica dean, back to you. >> if things change we'll check back in if with monica. laura has been on facebook talking to people who are actually in tokyo right now. you are gathering all kinds of information as well. >> that's right. we have inquiries into the big refineries sitting on the water in the san francisco bay. utilities with water, sewage lines right in the bay, they have procedures to shut the pipes down as well. meanwhile, waves are hitting hawaii and connecting through facebook and now by phone is joel canvas who is on whykeykey

way kiki beach waikiki beach. >> we are on the 26th floor. >> you will do just fine there. tell us what happened there, did the hotel alert you or how did you hear about this? >> we are at a restaurant with some family and they told us they were closing down early because of the tsunami alerts. and we heard the sirens go off on the beach. we basically were told to go back to our hotel and go to the rooms because these hotels were built for tsunamis and this is the safest place for our family. >> our data is showing the waves have started to hit hawaii. can you see outside? have you looked outside as far as what you can describe? >> yeah, we can see outside. it is pretty dark, so we have been watching the news. the news has different cameras outside. we are getting about one to two-foot waves here and there after the initial waves were about to hit hawaii. >> sure. and then what is the overall mood? this is like a tornado in

oklahoma or it is a strange thing to have on your hawaiian vacation. >> right, definitely. >> just the overall mood is pretty good out there? >> i'm sorry? >> the overall mood out there, everybody is staying calm? >> yeah, i think initially around 10:00 at night there was panic from a lot of people, especially tourists who are not familiar with the supers going off. but now a lot of people are trying to get some rest and kind of relieved the news is showing there's not much activity. >> joel canias of sunnyvale, back to you. we are continuing to talk to reporters all over the coast of california. we want to take you live now to los angeles. andi adler is live this morning. many people are watching the tsunami warning and watching how it will affect their local area. what can you tell us this morning, andi? >> reporter: i can tell you all orange county beaches and malibu

beaches will be shut down all day long. joining us now, jim amarino, with the orange county sheriff's department. we are hearing about the threats, how dangerous is this and how much is this going to affect southern california? >> well, the beaches in orange county should be considered dangerous because of the strong currents. we do not necessarily expect large waves. probably two feet, but a tsunami event is a series of waves that could last for hours, but it will produce very dangerous currents. we are advising everyone to stay out of the water, no surfing or fishing. all the harbors, marinas and piers have been closed. >> reporter: also, an elementary school, newport elementary school, has been shut down. that includes 900 students and also people are being evacuated from their boats in this area. as far as the magnitude of this, what advice are you giving people both in this area and in northern california? >> well, as you said, a lot of people live on their boats and are being evacuated. those are the only evacuations at this time.

one elementary school affecting 900 students. the main thing is to stay out of the water. >> reporter: thank you so much. brent and laura, it will be a long day here. we'll continue to key you up-to-date as we get more information here in southern california. for now, back to you in the studio. it is very interesting, we talked to san diego and say it is an advisory. los angeles is closing beaches. we are things going on in the bay area as well. we'll keep you posted all morning log that. >> precautionary measures of closing down the agree hate, for example. we don't want you toive you tut updated information as it comes to us. >> more coverage coming up in a minute. t

the largest earthquake to hit japan in at least 100 years triggers a deadly tsunami. and a tsunami warning here in the bay