Cannon Beach, a small but very popular tourist town on the North Oregon coast is planning for the tsunami. The residents of this town will be building the first tsunami shelter in the United States.
In 2005, scientists discovered that the Pacific Northwest is one of the most dangerous earthquake and tsunami zones in the world. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 9 and higher could hit this area triggering 50 foot waves within minutes of the earthquake.
The Cascadian Subduction zone, a fault that "geologists say is a near twin of the fault zone that produced the deadly Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in late 2004," runs very close to almost the entire Oregon Coast, the Washington Coast, and up part of the British Columbia coast.
The problem with predicting earthquakes is that it is still a very inexact art. Scientists can say that an earthquake is in the future for the Pacific Northwest, and based on what they know about the fault, it is likely to produce a "big one" with tsunamis following. They cannot predict when it will happen. It could be tomorrow, a year from now, or not for a hundred years - but it will happen.
The last "great" earthquake in the Pacific Northwest was January 1700. Geological records indicate that there have been at least seven "great" earthquakes in this area in the last 3500 years.
One way to improve survival rates is the building of tsunami-resistant shelters in those areas that are expected to be the highest danger zones.
"According to Yumei Wang, a geotechnical engineer at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries in Portland, "Such buildings are built on sturdy, pillar-like stilts, with embankments or seawalls to dissipate waves."
"The structures also need ramps that allow quick entry into the shelter. Buildings are usually designed for people to exit, she said—"but in this case, we want to get people into the building."
Tsunami structures already exist in Japan, but this will be the first such structure in the United States. It is forecast that other similar structures will be built in the Pacific Northwest in the coming years.
Resources:
First US Tsunami Shetler planned as earthquake looms
The Pacific NW Seismic Network
Posted October 23rd, 2009 by Shelby Bateson
