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Japanese tsunami impacts California coastal town
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March 13, 2011
Original URL: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Japanese_tsunami_impacts_California_coastal_town



The tsunami caused by Japan's 8.9 quake on Friday destroyed the  harbor
of , California, a coastal  town still recovering from a devastating .
Although most of the fishing boats were removed in advance, the 198
docking slips that the harbor had provided   for boats, enabling the
livelihoods of the  fishing crews, were lost. 

 Richard Young said that the harbor is destroyed. "We're facing not only
physical but financial disaster," he said during a  briefing. "Our
business activity came to a screeching halt yesterday, and that affects
the entire community." Councilwoman Kelly Schellong said,  "This is
going to have a trickle-down effect beyond the lost jobs."

Crescent City's unemployment rate was 13 percent before Friday's tsunami
destroyed its commerical fishing industry.  

The 1964 tsunami that hit Crescent City killed 11, demolished the harbor
and heavily damaged large portions of the business district. Although
the city subsequently rebuilt, . The city was in the midst of
reconstructing the harbor when Friday's tsunami hit. The harbor is
surrounded by land and a breakwater built after the 1964 disaster. The
tsunami's huge waves entered  through a small opening provided for the
entrance and exit of boats. 

Lori Dengler, director of the Humboldt Earthquake Education Center, says
Friday's tsunami was one of as many as 38 tsunamis to strike Crescent
City within the last 78 years. She calls the city a "tsunami magnet" 
because of the  of the ocean floor that contributes to its
vulnerability.  She also blames the breakwater built after the 1964
tsunami because it traps  tsunami waves in the harbor, causing them to
boil and churn. 

A county supervisor found the view painful on Saturday as she surveyed
the wreckage  accompanied by state officials. She is hoping they will
provide   emergency assistance. "We don't have the financial resources,"
she said. "We need money. That's what it takes to fix things…. Our poor
little harbor."

== Sources == 

* http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-japan-quake-crescent-city-20110313,0,5296998.story
* http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F03%2F12%2FMNR71IA17E.DTL



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