A 25-year-old man was confirmed dead in California's Del Norte County after being swept into the Pacific Ocean near the mouth of the Klamath River Friday, according to local emergency officials.

The man and two friends were taking photographs of the incoming tsunami waves.

Joey Young, a spokesman for the Del Norte County emergency operations centre, said it had not been determined whether the victim was a local resident, but he had been in the area about two weeks.

Young said no other people had been reported missing or injured in the area.

Surges of eight feet (2.4 meters) high crashed ashore on the coasts of California and Oregon Friday, up to 12 hours after the 8.9-magnitude quake triggered tsunami alerts in dozens of countries across the Pacific.