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First confirmed Japanese tsunami debris in California
This picture taken on February 20, 2013 shows the same area where AFP photographer Fred Dufour took a photo on March 18, 2011 showing debris and damage in the tsunami hit area of Minamisanriku, Japan. U.S. officials said Friday that a fishing boat that washed ashore in Northern California is the first debris to reach the state that's been confirmed as having come from the Japanese tsunami. (Photo credit TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)
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TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images
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Federal officials say a fishing boat that washed ashore in Northern California is the first debris to reach the state that's been confirmed as having come from the Japanese tsunami.
The Del Norte Triplicate reports that the 20-foot vessel belongs to the marine sciences program at Takata High School in the town of Rikuzentakata in the Iwate prefecture. It washed ashore in Crescent City on April 7.
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration confirmed the boat's origin on Thursday with help from the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco.
NOAA spokeswoman Keeley Belva says the skiff is the first confirmed debris from the 2011 tsunami in California. In total, 27 items from among more than 1,600 reports of debris have been firmly traced back to the tsunami.
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