Thumbnail photo: The National Weather Service noted surge of 3.6 feet at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, enough to generate minor coastal flooding and inundation. | Image courtesy of the National Weather Service The Crescent City Harbor District’s sacrificial dock did its job, taking the brunt of the energy spawned by a series of tsunami surges that arrived early Wednesday morning. No injuries were reported from the tsunami, which occurred following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the east coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said during a community briefing at about 8 a.m. Wednesday. But H Dock sustained significant damage. “At approximately 2:40 a.m. we noticed a surge of water several feet in height,” he said. “That caused the decking of H Dock to lift along its pilings. As the water level rose, the decking lodged on the pilings and was eventually submerged, [which] resulted in major structural failure and the complete separation of the dock.” H Dock at the Crescent City Harbor bore the brunt of the energy coming off Wednesday morning's tsunami surges, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said. | Video courtesy Mike Rademaker Harbor District staff also observed electrical arcing and sparking, Rademaker said. Arrivals and departures from the harbor are currently prohibited and power and water service to the inner boat basin has been shut off since the surges were still ongoing at as of about 8 a.m. Peak waves reached between 3.5 to 4 feet, according to State Sen. Mike McGuire, who hosted this morning’s briefing. Dangerous ocean conditions are expected to continue for another 12 to 24 hours, though Del Norte County’s Tsunami Warning was downgraded to a Tsunami Advisory at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Matthew Kidwell. “The waves are slowly diminishing, but they’re stubbornly persistent in Crescent City,” he said, adding that being downgraded to an advisory doesn’t mean the community is out of the woods. “There are still going to be a lot of strong currents throughout the day.” North Coast residents and visitors are asked to continue to stay off the beach and away from low lying areas including the Klamath and Smith River mouths for the next few hours. People living in the low lying areas of Crescent City evacuated after tsunami sirens went off, City Manager Eric Wier said. Water levels reached about 8 feet in Elk Creek — the area of most concern to city officials, he said — but it stayed within its banks. “It did reach around 8 feet, which is a high king tide for us, but it didn’t create any flooding from a city standpoint. Water and sewer infrastructure is still intact,” Wier said. “The city downtown is at a high enough elevation that it is open and you can go about your business.” The Downtown Farmers Market is also open, Wier said, but Lighthouse Cove RV Park and the Beachfront Park area remain closed. Del Norte County’s temporary evacuation site at the Veterans Memorial Hall closed just before 9 a.m. Eleven people spent the night in the building and five people stayed in their vehicles at that location, County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez said. People with RVs were also permitted to park in the Walmart and Home Depot parking lots and at Del Norte High School. Back at the Crescent City Harbor, Rademaker said staff haven’t observed loose, drifting or damaged vessels. However, multiple fishing vessels attempted to return to port during the tsunami surges and were turned away by the U.S. Coast Guard, he said. People are still asked to stay away from the beaches and the harbor, he said. Crescent City’s inner boat basin was built following the March 2011 tsunami, Rademaker said. According to him, H Dock was engineered to as a wave and current attenuator with pilings spaced close together to disrupt and disperse wave action, protecting the interior docks. However, he said, staff was still assessing the damage. The earthquake triggered 13-foot tsunamis in Kamchatka, the Redwood Coast Tsunami Working Group posted on its Facebook page. Hawaii recorded surges of 5 feet above or below ambient tide and about a foot and a half in Humboldt Bay.