Reports of serious damage are coming from the

in the wake of Friday's earthquake-tsunami in Japan.

Chris Cantwell, the port's operations supervisor said 70 percent of the port's commercial basin was destroyed.

"A third of our sports basin destroyed. We have boats on top of another. Probably half-a-dozen sunk," he told The Oregonian.

Cantwell said the first wall of water came in about 8:05 a.m. Friday. Three waves in all came in before 10 a.m. The third one inflicted the most damage.

"We had one fatality ... dead body found in a boat. Not entirely sure the guy died during the tsunami. Possibly before," he said.

The damage could have been much worse. About 75 percent of the harbor's fleet went out early Friday. Those boats at sea were undamaged, Cantwell said.

Tsunami

Oregon is alert for possible tsunami damage after a devastating earthquake in Japan:

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Cantwell saw the waves come. He'd been at the port since 2 a.m. after getting news of the Japanese earthquake.

Similar to some of the video footage from Japan, the wall of water wasn't huge. Cantwell said each of the three waves was about 3 feet high.

"When that first one came in, it came in pretty quick," he said. "It wasn’t the size of the wave. It was the current and the power.

"By the time the third one came in, things were loosened up," he added. "It was flipping boats on top of one another. We pretty much have a major disaster here."

The Brookings harbor sustained millions of dollars in damage, said City Manager Gary Milliman, who toured the area. About 60 to 85 percent of the commercial dock is destroyed, he said, by a surge of water rushing in around 10:40 a.m.

Seven boats were swept out to sea, while several others sunk or sustained severe damage, he said. The body of a man was also discovered on one of the boats, but the Curry County sheriff had told Milliman it is unclear whether the death resulted from the tsunami.

Water continues to surge into the harbor, he said, describing it "like a very rapid high tide" in which the water level rises by a few feet very quickly.

Residents and businesses were evacuated early this morning, he said.

Bill McMillan, a spokesman at

, said they've seen few tsunami-related injuries. A man in Gold Beach suffered cardiac arrest when the tsunami warning sirens went off at about 4 a.m. He died later at Curry General.

Also, two people were swept off a local beach. They were brought to Curry General, examined and then released.

“They’re just cold and a little shaken,” McMillan said.

McMillan didn't have information about a death at the Brookings harbor.

Earlier, in Gold Beach, four people ventured onto the beach near Pistol River south of Gold Beach. Don Kendall, emergency management coordinator for the county, said they had to be rescued by local firefighters — and one almost drowned.

“We’re reminding people to stay off the beach,” Kendall said.

He said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration measured 6-foot waves off Port Orford earlier today. Most waves rolling in now are in the 5-foot range, Kendall said. As they surge out, other waves push towards the shore, creating a powerful and dangerous thrust.

-- The Oregonian