Beachgoers flee as powerful ‘sneaker’ wave surges over rocks during Oregon storm

A group of people and a dog have been forced to run from a freak "sneaker" wave that lashed the Oregon coastline during a storm.

Local café owner Steve Raplee was standing on the shore at Coos Bay filming violent waves crashing over rocks when a surge came out of nowhere.

The footage shows a group of people, including a young boy and his dog, walking around on the shoreline, before suddenly scrambling to high ground.

“Uh-oh, time to go here,” Mr Raplee can be heard yelling as he runs from the deluge.

“Get out of the way!” he yells as screams and dog barks can be heard off-camera.

After a scramble to the safety of a nearby embankment, Mr Raplee then turns the camera on the powerful surge, as it swiftly floods the shoreline where the group had just been standing.

“Whoa, that was scary. That’s a big sneaker wave. My God, that’s huge, I just got out of the way. Could have taken anybody in its path,” he says.

“Everybody made it out”.

The video was uploaded to the public Facebook page of the US National Weather Service Eureka California, as a warning to beachgoers.

A sneaker wave, or a king wave, is a disproportionately large coastal wave which often appears without warning during a large swell.