I saw this photo in the Hilo Tsunami Museum. It is NO JOKE! They have tsunami sirens all over the island and test them REGULARLY.
Even yesterday, an Australian on Fox said that he saw the waters receding in Thailand, out 100 yards but thought it was a low tide! That people actually went OUT further.
One of the first things I learned on Okinawa was, if the waters sudenly recede, RUN LIKE THE WIND FOR HIGH GROUND!
Yes, as I heard it explained on FoxNews about 20 minutes ago (they even had simulated visual aids), the shelves deep below the ocean shift, vast volumes of water rush down into the gap created, and the water that rushes forward to take the displaced water's place continues on to the various shores and beaches, and as the depth of the seas decrease as the "wave" comes closer to the beaches, the water rises causing this horrible damage!
It is truly amazing.
From http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2200.htm:
"The photo was taken from the Brigham Victory, which was in the harbor at the time of the event. The ship was caught by the waves and tossed about but was able to use its own power to avoid the reefs and get past the breakwater to the open sea."
The article doesn't say why the man was out there, but what a terrible way to die.
The above quote and link was copied straight from the http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20050103.htm ("The Great Earthquake and Catastrophic Tsunami of 2004") where it's the -- get this -- 12th tsunami-related photo. The other 11 pics are definitely worth viewing too.