state of emergency. the declaration involves two counties. the water surge created conditions of peril and is still causing problems. piers destroyed and recovery crews chasing boats that were smashed and floating away. on the san mateo county coast. people jumped into their cars and jammed the roadways. to find a spot where they could watch the waves. we have coverage throughout the bay area. we begin with allie rasmus. >> we're standing on a bridge overlooking the water. you can see from all the activity out here behind me, we're not alone out here.

the tidal surging have been a spectacle all day. we have video to show you over head, but there is a crowd of about 100 people gathered on this bridge and the surrounding area. earlier this morning the crowd was at least 100 strong. some people had been here since early this morning watching the waves and documenting the damage. one spectator showed us the video of this wave that overtook the boats. >> it was pretty intense. >> reporter: throughout the day the fast moving water continued to rush in and out of the harbor with each surge there was more damage. we watched one yacht get filled with water. >> there was a walk way that went all the way up to the challenge channel and there

were boats on both sides. so probably about 40 boats. >> reporter: the dock surrounding it was destroyed. she escaped just in time. >> i heard them yell to get off the boat, i jumped off and the pier broke between my feet and i jumped to the other side. >> reporter: this appears to be a dock that broke apart and remains floating here. elsewhere along the dock, we've seen people continue and start to do some of the repair work and assess some of the damage out here. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. let's go to robert handa, where by some estimates there could be millions of the dollars of damage to those boats. >> reporter: that's right gasia, we're at the lower level harbor where basically the boats come in and out. we have just been told that emergency officials believe 30 to 40 boats haven been damaged and along with the harbor

destruction. the cost from this tsunami, it could total $1 million. the way the harbor enters the water it helps the tsunami wave gather strength as it rushes in. take a look at the tsunami action that we saw today. we saw the harbor start shaking, sometimes violently as the waves swept in. normally there's virtually no wave action. today, lots of what boat owners called, scary energy. >> boats sinking, boats crunching underneath the bridge. i've been on my boat and almost had a sunken boat wedge up underneath my boat. >> reporter: some boats that got lose made for some mind boggling images. as you can see from this imagine, crews were frankicly trying to stabilize and tow capsized boats and trying to separate boats that had drifted and in some case smashed into each other. people told us they wanted to help but instead watched helplessly. >> the biggest problem was being able to get to the boats

as they were broken away. there were plenty of people around to do that. but it was just -- the harbor, it was such a high danger. >> reporter: as boat owners assess their damage, agencies including the harbor patrol and state fish and game are now inspecting for environmental impact from the capsized boats. from the water, the harbor and wildlife. the potential damage has people who live here worried. >> it's serious stuff when that happens, it's a lot of clean up. it's going to be a lot of cost and time to fix this. and you know mother nature is just always wins i guess. >> reporter: at this hour that assessment continues some boat owners told us because the sue thatmy wave action put some boats in -- tsunami wave action put some boats in mud, they will try to save them everyone if they risk being capsized. and we're looking at the impact that tsunami has had in

the bay area. mike mibach is live to show us what it's like near the water. >> reporter: let's show you what it's like at the pacific pier. the waves that have been coming in have been large. not huge, but large at times. if we can pan over to the left you can see this yellow caution tape. this was put up by police early this morning, basically warning people who were coming out here to see the waves come in, as if to say do not go into the ocean. the tsunami warning was issued, the police moved in, beaches were closed, front decks and streets were emptied. >> this is the first time i can remember a tsunami warning. >> reporter: the oceanic parking lot became an emergency center. >> we have been in pacifica since 1978. this is the first time they've

closed the school that i know of. >> reporter: chavarria says she and other participants got a call from the -- parents got a call from the school saying they were closing. an estimated 5,000 students were impacted by the district's decision. oceana high school principal pendergren. >> i think it was absolutely the right thing to do. you never know what's going to happen. you need to be prepared. the whole purpose of the disaster preparedness program is to be prepared for the disaster. >> reporter: pacifica appeared to have dodged the disaster. and those who came out to look at it, understand the power. >> it's clear now, we're all one world. you are standing here getting affected by something that

happened over there. >> reporter: at times unpredictable. authorities say the beach could open as early as tomorrow. reporting live in pacifica, mike mibach. >> the situation is changing here in the bay area when it comes to caution along our coast. let's go to bill martin. >> and the waves are big today, by themselves, caused by weather. the waves you're seeing out there they are good sized waves. so don't be fooled with that. that really has nothing too with the tsunami. the tsunami surge that moved into monterey bay and the crescent city imnated by the quake happens once in 10 years. heading toward south america where those waves are now just arriving. for us the wave we got a little bit of an offshoot here and

came over the pacific. an extraordinary day. let's show you some pictures from today. because in my time doing this on television and doing a part of newsrooms. i've never seen anything like this. it's a rare sight to see a tsunami caught on video tape. you don't see it that often, especially in santa cruz harbor. for a time today we were seeing storm surges or tsunami surging going up the harbor. it went on, it wasn't one wave it was numerous waves as we went through the afternoon hours. we even had claudine wong out in the golden gate bridge in san francisco. with the water tide going out you were watching water swept in. really a spectacular day in bay area coast history. the tsunami has taken a human toll here in the west coast. the coast guard is looking for

a man who was swept out to sea while taking photos of the waves near the mouth of the river. and in southern oregon, four people were rescued after they were swept off a beach in north brookings. and here are pictures viewers sent us of what it looked like after the tsunami. one of four counties where governor brown has declared a state of emergency. you can see that the tsunami lifted boats over the dock. waves got as high as 8 feet and destroyed most of the docks as well as badly damaging about 35 boats. and as much damage we've been showing you here in the bay area, it is nothing like what is going on a half a world away. maureen naylor has new video to share. >> reporter: the pictures we are about to show you are

unprecedented. but we first want to begin with images coming out of japan. the death toll is rising. but we don't know exactly how bad it is. because some of the worse hit areas were blocked away or wiped out. sos has been spelled, help is needed over the region. cameras captured the disaster. the 8.9 quake hit hard at 2:46 in the afternoon. the shaking went on for more than two minutes. at an airport, some huddled over the roadway and watched the ceiling crash down. within an hour, a tsunami roared ashore. wiping out farmland in ha

matter of seconds. and the at the prefecture you could hear screams. it looked like a movie but it was all real. the buildings devoured by the wave in an instant. a stream of debris flow trapping cars and tearing entire homes away. boats and barges alike battled the incoming waves. which triggered a massive whirlpool. in one submerged neighborhood someone waved a white cloth from their second story window for help. the latest reports say 200 bodies were found along the water line at the closest city from the epicenter: the

casualty report is lower than that. 741 missing and more than 900 injured. a state of emergency has been declared in the surrounding area of a nuclear plant in japan. the quake caused damage to the cooling system. at one plant the radiation level inside was 1,000 times what's considered normal. pressure inside one of the reactors at the plant also rose to 1.5 times normal. and vapor may be released. they stress that vapor will not affect the environment or human health. president obama called the prime minister of japan to offer whatever assistance is needed.

>> it's a catastrophic disaster. the images are simply heartbreaking. >> the president says he feels a personal connection to japan because he grew up in hawaii where the japanese culture is strong. >> i'm heartbroken by this tragedy. when we face these kinds of natural disasters. whether it's in new zealand or japan, you think about your own family. >> he said the federal emergency management agency fema is fully activated to help the pacific coast state's response to the tsunami. the earthquake in japan has seriously disrupted flights to and from that country. take a look at this footage, only part of the runway is visible through all the water. in tokyo, the main

international airport was briefly shutdown early this morning: and some flights to san francisco had to be rescheduled. san francisco emergency management teams are huddled right now. what we've just learned about the tsunami's effect on san francisco. it's friday, a little bit of rain to talk about. we'll get to your saturday and sunday coming up. go! go!

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continuing our coverage of the tsunami surge. san francisco's department of emergency services has been the hub of information and activity. we've been monitoring developments from in all day long. david stevenson with developments happening just within the last hour, right david. >> reporter: i just got a briefing about five minutes ago from the department of works. she told me that in northern

california the tsunami warning has now been downgraded to an advisory as of 5:30. we saw some video earlier this afternoon at san francisco's ocean beach. that was where police had blocked off part of the great highway to traffic. they were trying to discourage people from coming on to the beach. the concern was about a swell of waves. that swell only grew to about one to 2 feet at the time that the waves hit san francisco. which is about 8:00 this morning. but as of about 4:30. the great highway both lanes have been reopened. nummi service along that way has been reopened as well too. and we're told that although people are allowed -- are not being restricted from walking on the beach, they are discouraging people from going into the water until at least 2:00 p.m. on saturday. now, city officials told us earlier in the afternoon they are still concerned about after shocks imnating from japan. they will be monitoring that. they say that that cry is is

not over and it merits being watched for the next 72 hours or so. since about 4:30, that tsunami warning has been downgraded. we'll tell you what we've learned about the formula that emergency management officials used here in san francisco to calculate whether to order a bay area coastal evaluation. david stevenson, ktvu news. there is no shortage of amateur video coming into the ktvu newsroom. as neighbors watched the damage there unfold at coastal communities. >> oh, no. that was close. >> reporter: this video comes to us from santa cruz where the rushing waters have been senting boats crashing into each other at the harbor. you got a recipe for disaster. there is a large japanese

community here in the bay area and tonight as you might imagine there is a lot of worry and concern. ktvu's paul chamber is in san francisco, he talked to several people today who are desperate for news about their friends and family. >> reporter: the devastation can be felt right here in san francisco. thousands of miles away from that tsunami and earthquake area. we're here in japan town where many people are clinging to life and hoping that their loved ones are okay. the haunting images of a tsunami clearing a path is haunting many here in the bay area. >> it's beyond our imagination. we're very shocked. >> reporter: since last night, the council says that he's been getting hundreds of calls of those who are feared missing or dead. >> i couldn't get ahold of two of my friends who live in ground zero. so they are still missing.

>> reporter: fuji's family owns and operating four japanese restaurants in san francisco. 20 of his employees are trying to contact their families. >> i called last night after i finished, around the 20th time i could reach my family. >> reporter: he grew up near the area ravaged by the quake and tsunami. he says he's been trying to get in contact with his mother and sister who still live in the area. and he says he's thankful because his employer is

donating some of the proceeds toward the tsunami recovery fund. >> you probably didn't notice how beautiful it was out there because of all the activity. looks like a sunday shower. kind of cloudy weekend. you're overnight lows will be a little patchy. we're going to show you the five day forecast. we'll run the computer model that shows the exact timing of this rain event. as the world watches the horror going on in japan. we're reminded of a similar natural disaster almost seven years ago. in 2004 a 9.15 magnitude earthquake hit indonesia causing a massive tsunami across the indian ocean.

and the damage was said to be about 10 p-l dollars. over 200,000 people were killed. it's a question you might ask yourself today. at 6:00, homes evacuated. highways shut down. and a man swept out to sea. we continue our live team coverage on how japan's earthquake and tsunami is affecting the bay area. chief martin is monitoring conditions along the bay coast and preparing you for what may happen next. waters have come on shore and damaged many boats. we'll have a look at the damage.

as we've been bringing you pictures from the tsunami surge throughout last night and most of the day. seems like most of the problems

are west of the area. tom vacar has a reason why we may have been spared. the under sea rupture happened around a 180-mile section, a thousand times more powerful than the bay area's loma prieta quake. >> this is the largest earthquake in modern history in japan. it exceeds all other earthquakes that we know about for sure, you have to go back perhaps a thousand years to see the kind of tsunami devastation in this particular region. >> reporter: the force has drove the sea floor up, that displaced about 50 feet of water sitting over hundreds of square of sea water. giving rise to is sue thatmy. as this brand new usgs animation, those waves slammed into northern california this morning. how much damage if any depended

almost solely on the angle it hit various areas of the coast. >> the orientation of the harbor and the depth of the harbor then how the water funnels in. it causes the water to accelerate as the wave comes in. then you can also get eddy, the water can circulate around. because it's more than the typical tide current. it's going to tide damage if the morning lines aren't set properly. >> reporter: the shaking in japan created a series of major shocks. that created several wave pulses. some combining forces, some canceling each other out. >> you don't get a single wave, you get waves that are very complex. >> reporter: more on what happened when the wave got here and why. reporting live from minlow park, tom vacar. and the oakland a's

announced plan to raise money for the victims of the japanese tsunami. they are still working out the details but the game will feature seattle's suzuki and matsui issued a statement of condolence. "i pray for the safety of the people that have been affected and continue to be affected. we'll show you how the city is on high alert. and b.a.r.t. caught a break today. what the agency was considering doing because of the tsunami and how it would have impacted thousands of commuters.

roads closed, voluntary evacuations ordered. people along the california coast are seeing and feeling the effects of a massive earthquake and tsunami from half a world away. right now we want to go back to santa cruz and give you an update on the situation there. news chopper 2 is over the santa cruz harbor where th estimates are the damage will be at least $15 million. the port director says between 30 to 40 boats were damaged at the cost of about $15 million. and they say there's about $10 million of structural damage to the harbor. as we mentioned just about 2-

1/2 hours ago, governor jerry brown announced a state of emergency in two counties. capitola just one of the coastal cities that spent this day on alert. law enforcement and emergency crews have been on stand by all day long. janine de la vega has the story. >> reporter: and we just saw a helicopter fly over capitola just to monitor the waters. but the grounds have been closed most of the day. about an hour and a half ago police decided to open the roads back up. they really have been watching the water all day especially right here below on capitola village. they are trying to see how high the water was going to come up. at capitola beach the waters looked calm most of the morning. at least that's what andrew zitto thought as he was walking

down the shoreline. >> i was enjoying the view, then two massive waves came in and they just never went away. the tide came in in a few couple of minutes. >> reporter: with no beach left to stand on, zito was trapped for about 10 minutes until the water receded. the danger caused police to shut roads. but residents still came on foot to watch the waves. >> i've lived here my whole life and i haven't seen anything like this. the waves aren't big but you can definitely tell a tsunami is causing an impact. >> reporter: most of the day, business were closed. >> this is very strange, because even if it's raining this place is opened. >> the cooks were all up on

highway 17 afraid to come to work. i had to hike in from up on the hill to come down. >> reporter: with warning signs up most of the day, law enforcement was playing it safe. no one really knew what to expect. >> i was like how high is it going to be, how strong, how far out would it go. just like what's going to happen. >> reporter: and back out here live, you're watching at the capitola village where it's back to business as usual. because they opened up vehicle traffic and of course pedestrian traffic is there right now. and if you come back up here on the cliff side. you can see there are still people just sort of camped out here watching the ocean on the benches. even though the waters right now are still calm. and we anticipate that they will still be up here at least until the sun sets just out of pure curiosity. reporting live from capitola, janine de la vega.

b.a.r.t. this morning warned of possible service disruption but in the end b.a.r.t. training kept running on time. b.a.r.t. was considering slowing or stopping trains if the waves in the bay became too powerful. the agency was watching crescent city and they told us at one point today that if waves reached 8 feet like they did in crescent city they would close the transdown. >> we want to keep our customers safe. >> b.a.r.t. officials say if the waves would have been unsafe they would have stopped the train. you've heard tsunami watching, warnings, there's been a lot of cautionary measures issued by various agencies today. let's bring in our chief

meteorologist bill martin to tell us what it means and why it was confusing for a while. >> we were waiting for someone to issue a tsunami watch. it wasn't happening. the agency says there was a lot of confusion last night. the tsunami warning was down. the first thing they issued was a watch. there's something out there, let's pay attention. it went from a watch directly to a warning. now when you hear like a tornado warning or a flood warning, or a tsunami warning, warning, that means it's happening. something is going to happen. it's either flooding some where in your area. but it's happening, it's basically imminent. the key we want to watch for, advisories and watches. we're just getting ready for that. when you hear warning. that's why we were so concerned last night because we weren't getting that. we did have tsunami impulses

coming in the coast. a warning means it's going the happen. we are down to advisory. i would suspect that will be dropped in the next few hours and it'll just go away. the watch will not occur, it'll just go advisory and it'll go away. when you hear warning, it's a big deal. and it was a big deal. coming up i'll look at the weekend, and there's some rain in there. you can see how bad all of the devastation is. it's been about 20 hours now since the biggest quake ever recorded in japan. a magnitude 8.9 and it shook for 2.5 minutes, compare that to the loma prie ta quake where it shook for just 30 seconds.

it is expected that the death toll will reach into the thousands. and right now there's a fear of a chemical melt down. john fowler covering the story all day now. he's here to explain why it was so strong, john. >> reporter: i've been talking to several quake experts and they tell me this may be the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in 1,200 years. much of this 8.9 damage was inland. collapsing even retrofit buildings. the pacific slammed into the quake. when that happened experts told me that the earth's quest

slammed up 30 feet vertically in seconds. a 150-mile long by 50-mile wide chunk of earth suddenly gave way. i checked in seconds ago, as of now there's been 173 strong aftershocks. those two nuclear plants remain shut down. crews struggling to prevent melt down. this is a major catastrophe. almost 200 dead, almost 600 still missing. coming up, we'll tell you of an overdue bay area quake. how it could send a tsunami into our coast and into the bay. the japanese earthquake is sending shock waves through airports around the world and it's causing major problems at sfo. ktvu's ken pritchett is there talking to people who are trying to get to japan to see

their loved ones. all the ports in japan are closed. now experts are worried the shut down there could disrupt world trade. bree: sis, help me create my oasis. marcy: ok, romantic garden? bree: oh, is there a castle nearby? marcy: no, but there's a charming farmhouse. bree: right next to my posh castle! i'm sensing a theme here. well, i am the queen, dear sister.

take a look at this, we have more dramatic pictures now of the tsunami hitting the mayaco port. you can see the massive surge of water pretty much sweeps up everything in its path as it

moves on shore. it was a scene repeated all over. >> you can see the damage there to the port. and sendai airport too flooded. so many people here in the bay area say they are desperate to get to japan. looks like one flight could be headed there tonight, ken -- >> reporter: here at sfo one flight to tokyo today was cancelled. another one was delayed. we talked to some of the passengers on that delayed flight. and many of them were on that plane specifically because of the quake so they could go home to see loved ones. the people in this line are flying back to tokyo. at least that's their hope. >> i want to go to my family. and my family is okay but they don't have power in their house. >> reporter: seven hours for

saki imua and umimoto. they've been waiting for six hours. they have seen the images of the devastating tsunami. theirs is the only flight out of sfo this evening. victoria staff is hoping to be on board. >> i'm going to visit someone. and my boyfriend and i just, i really hope he's okay. so i would really like to take the trip and go see him if i can. >> reporter: victoria got her passport and bought the ticket without knowing if her flight would be going out. she has reached her boyfriend and family. that flight is delayed but still scheduled to leave tonight. at 6:00, we'll talk to a man who lives in a town in japan, a town near the epicenter. he was able to reach his family and he is leaving tonight to see them. that is at 6:00, ken pritchett,

ktvu news. investors are concerned earthquake impact could disrupt the world production. japan is the world's third largest economy. the world bank says it will provide any assistance needed to help that country recover. traders have shrugged up concern of the earthquake and tsunami. the dow was up 59 points. nasdaq was up 14.5 points to 2,715. oh my god. that is the biggest earthquake. images like this are streaming into our newsroom. coming up right after the break. a firsthand look at the earthquake and how long it lasted. the shaking here is just remarkable. and your bay area weekend

just around the corner. there's clouds in the forecast, maybe some sprinkles. i'll pinpoint which areas could see rain. homes evacuated, highways shut down and a man swept out to sea. we'll continue our coverage of how japan's earthquake and tsunami is affecting the bay area. and surging waters have battered local harbors and destroyed dozens of boats. ktvu crews are spanned out with the latest on damage estimates. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00.

one of the remarkable things about that earthquake in japan is how long the shaking lasted. the loma prieta quake only lasted about 15 second. the earthquake in japan kept ongoing for over 2.5 minutes. this video you're about to see from koriama north of tokyo gives you a sense of just how

frightening it was. >> biggest one to date. >> oh my god, that is the biggest earthquake to date. >> it is still going. >> oh my god the building is going to fall. >> that is really something.

again that video lasted about a minute and as frightening as that was consider this. the shaking kept ongoing for another minute and a half after that tape. as we first reported last night, a dozens firefighters from japan are here in the bay area training with the minloe park fire department training team. john fowler has the story. >> reporter: we watch as they practice stabilizing a collapsed building before trying to save someone. we spoke to one firefighter through a translator. he didn't want us to show his face he said because he didn't want to appear to be having it easy in california while so many are suffering in tokyo. >> he's a firefighter and he doesn't think he'll be able to

go to japan right away, so it's frustrating. >> reporter: the firefighters team is on stand by to go to japan. >> you're going to have collapses within the cities that you have from the earthquake. and you're going to have a field debris that are going to have to be taken over. >> reporter: fire officials are trying to get a plane for the japanese firefighters. but for now, the japanese firefighters just have to wait. rob roth, ktvu news we're going to stay on our coverage of the earthquake and tsunami. but for now let's go to chief meteorologist bill martin. >> temperatures are going to be on the mild side. partly to mostly cloudy.

here is what happens as we go through time. you can see a few sprinkles show up on saturday about 4:00. not a big deal. then here comes sunday. sunday morning, sunday -- so it's just kind of weak showers. i think sunday is going to be showers. the nicest day of the weekend is clearly going to be saturday. mild side in the mid-60s. here is the weekend forecast. i have the weekend always in view in the five day. just a lot of clouds frank and gasia. you're going to see a lot of those and maybe a sprinkle on sunday. >> thanks, bill. people all across the bay area are trying to figure out how they can help tonight. people across the bay area are concerned about the devastation in japan and how they can help.

in southern california a tsunami warning did not keep surfers out of the water. the surf could help clear king harbor of all those dead sardines. the fish became trapped in the harbor and likely died of oxygen deprivation. as we have seen with many other disasters the bay area

has reached out to help the victims of the sue tsunami. >> reporter: this is the sycamore church, which is mostly a japanese congregation. the earthquake and tsunami has left this community reeling. >> many people have a fear about this, so i want to share. >> reporter: although it's still early in the recovery process. church officials say they will be helping out in the relief effort. >> doing a special offering for the japan disaster relief. so we are a ucc church, united church of christ. so our donations will go through them to be dispersed in

japan. >> reporter: the mission is being efforted by the red cross. >> the japanese red cross has gone in. they've sent in a number of teams to really determine what the needs will be in the affected areas. we are in close contact with them in determining how we may be able to support them. >> reporter: and back here live pastor shehada is online. he's been looking all day really at the latest news from japan on this disaster. you can imagine he's been paying very, very close attention. as have many of the congregants here. if you want to know how you can donate to the red cross go to our website ktvu.com. live in el cerrito, john sasaki. there's much more news coming up, we have the latest pictures for you and the newest information coming in from

japan. also we'll show you what's happening here in the bay area as the situation along our coast is drawing a lot of spectators. plus -- >> reporter: assessing the damage in santa cruz harbor where boats sank, hundreds were damaged and hundreds of people came out to watch it all happen. 0!ockñ?çóxo?ñ=çñññçvxqx?ñññ?óioy

boats went slamming. this first surge hit about 8:00 this morning. ten hours after the huge earthquake in japan. santa cruz officials say some 40 boats were either