Dock from Japan washes up on Oregon beach

We have read about messages in bottles that get washed ashore. Something as small as a bottle is believable that it can float across the oceans to reach a shore on the other side. What about something as huge as a dock? Not possible? Read on..

A huge dock unmoored during last year's Japanese tsunami washed up on an Oregon beach this week which is having the authorities debating on how to remove it as well as who will be bearing the cost.


According to The Star article, the catastrophe swept an estimated 5 million tons of debris out to sea, but most of it sank. Japan has estimated that as much as 1.5 million tons of debris could still be afloat.

The 66-foot-(20-metre-) long dock is made mostly of concrete and metal, with a small metal plaque with Japanese writing attached. It washed up early on Tuesday morning on scenic Agate Beach, just north of Newport, Oregon, about 110 miles (177 km) southwest of Portland.

The dock tested negative for radiation, which was a concern because of the major radiation release at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following March 2011's 9.0 magnitude earthquake which caused a tsunami that killed nearly 16,000 people and left over 3,000 missing on Japan's main island of Honshu.

From soccer balls and buoys to building materials, they have floated across the Pacific and washed up on shores across the U.S. West Coast.


Source: The Star..Dock from Japanese tsunami washes up on Oregon beach