Japanese Tsunami

The earthquake and tsunami threat to the Northwest from the offshore Cascadia fault was in the news in multiple ways Thursday. Canadian researchers have

Another piece of possible tsunami debris that appears to be part of a painted wooden arch has washed up on a beach in Florence. The artifact is similar to…

A boat that washed ashore on Gleneden Beach near Newport, Oregon appears to be debris from the March 2011 Japan Tsunami.Stevin Rumrill is with the Oregon…

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

Federal and state biologists today are trekking back to a remote beach in Olympic National Park where a large dock washed ashore. The concrete and steel…

Marine scientists say dozens of Japanese coastal species hitched a ride across the Pacific Ocean on a floating dock. The likely piece of tsunami debris washed ashore in Olympic National Park last week. The preliminary list of marine hitchhikers includes 29 species "of Japanese coastal origin." Several are potentially invasive. National Park Service ecologist Scott Fradkin says he's concerned about the wilderness environment where the dock landed. "The Olympic coastline is a biodiversity hotspot," he explains. "You have more species of marine invertebrates and seaweeds than any other place on the west coast of North America. So it really is a special place. This type of threat, we take very seriously." The tsunami debris team collected seaweeds, mollusks, barnacles, worms, and sea anemones from the beached dock. Researchers estimate the list will expand to around 50 different species by the time their examination is completed. Last summer, another tsunami debris dock washed ashore under much calmer conditions near Newport, Oregon. By comparison, that hulk carried about twice as many different kinds of Japanese plants and critters. On the Web: The Tsunami-Generated Floating Dock blog (Oregon State University)

As more people use Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch, more disaster response agencies are signing up for their own accounts. The Bureau of Land…

More than 700 volunteers turned out Thursday to help pick up litter and flotsam on the Oregon and southwest Washington coasts. Volunteers were on alert…