Tsunami Warning Systems Failed

One of the major ways of alerting Washington coastal residents to a tsunami -- the NOAA weather and hazard alert radio -- failed during the West Coast warning on Tuesday night.

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The meteorologist in charge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office in Seattle said the warning didn't get out because a phone line was out between the office and the Coast Guard.

Evacuation Info In Case Of Tsunami Evacuation zones are listed on these maps from the Washington Military Department Emergency Management Division. Files are in pdf format.

Aberdeen-Hoquiam Bay Center and Vicinity Clallam Bay Copalis Beach Cosmopolis La Push Long Beach and Ilwaco Neah Bay North Cove and Tokeland Ocean Shores Ocean Park and Vicinity Port Angeles Port Townsend Raymond and South Bend Sequim Westport

Chris Hill said his office will be looking for ways to back up the system to the transmitters to make it more reliable.

George Crawford of the state department of Emergency Management told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that coastal residents should have evacuated.

In LaPush, Police Chief Bill Lyon said when the warning siren failed to go off automatically, he activated it by hand. He said officers and firefighters evacuated more than 600 residents to higher ground.

Video: Tsunami Warning Sets Off Scare

Neah Bay Police Chief T.J. Green said a recently installed tsunami siren did not go off.

Many people wondered what was going on. Gray Harbor 911 Director Peggy Fouts said the emergency dispatch center received 200 calls for information between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

The warning was downgraded after officials determined there was no wave generated by the quake off northern California.