Tsunami Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Coastal Washington Tribe Creates Higher Ground By Building Tsunami Tower, First Of Its Type Here

By Tom Banse August 10, 2022

The first free-standing tsunami refuge in North America is now open in Tokeland in Pacific County, Washington.

There is a new option to escape a tsunami if you’re on the southwest coast of Washington when the Big One strikes. The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe on Friday dedicated a 50-foot tall evacuation tower in Tokeland, Washington. Tribal leaders and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the new tsunami refuge platform should be an example and inspiration for other Read More

Earthquake Safety Of Schools On Ballot On Washington Coast Feb. 8, Possibly Statewide In November

By Tom Banse January 29, 2022

Feature image of Earthquake safety story

The January 15 volcanic eruption near Tonga was a stark reminder of the threats posed by tsunamis. That's long been a concern in the Pacific Northwest, where thousands of students go to school within reach of a large tsunami. Read More

Washington State And Oregon Considering More Tsunami Refuge Facilities Along Pacific Coast Following New Study

By Tom Banse November 5, 2021

A tsunami of local origin leaves precious little time for people to move to higher ground along the Pacific coast.

If you are on the Pacific Northwest Coast when the next Cascadia megaquake strikes — also known as "The Big One"— the standard advice is to run for higher ground as soon as the shaking stops. But in some low-lying places such as Ocean Shores and Long Beach, Washington, and Warrenton and Seaside, Oregon, the closest high ground could be a long walk away over buckled roads. Read More

Prepping For ‘The Big One’: Coastal Hospitals Get Creative With Disaster Planning

By Tom Banse October 17, 2019

Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital facilities director Chris Lemar shows flexible piping designed to withstand earthquake shaking in the new hospital. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3

The state of Oregon is pushing the community hospitals along the Oregon Coast to improve their earthquake resilience. This comes after a state report predicted none of them would be able to sustain operations after the feared Big One -- a magnitude 9 offshore Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. Read More

Plastic’s New Threat: Indestructible Rafts For Ocean-Crossing Invasive Species

By NWPB News August 2, 2019

Marine organisms like these gooseneck barnacles are crossing the Pacific Ocean to North America by hitching rides on floating debris composed of man-made materials — mostly plastic. Courtesy of Russ Lewis

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Fukushima, Japan, also triggered tsunami warnings for our coastlines here in the Pacific Northwest. And while the resulting waves did not turn out to be catastrophic when they reached our local shores, those same forces delivered a wake-up call. Read More

‘Kits For Kids’ Take Preparedness Up A Notch At Tsunami-Vulnerable Oregon School

By Tom Banse June 21, 2019

Cannon Beach Academy director Amy Fredrickson with one of the school's 55 survival kits. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / NW NEWS NETWORK

How's this for emergency preparedness? An elementary school located in the tsunami inundation zone in Cannon Beach, Oregon, has equipped every student with a personal disaster survival kit. Continue Reading ‘Kits For Read More

Navy Hovercrafts Could Be Hulking Lifesavers After ‘The Big One’ Hits Northwest

By Tom Banse June 4, 2019

The Navy hovercraft involved in Monday's demonstration are known as LCACs in military lingo. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

People visiting or living along the Pacific Northwest coast may be completely cut off after "The Big One" —the feared magnitude 9.0 Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. For that reason, the U.S. Navy has been scouting landing sites along the coast for disaster relief delivery by sea. The quake preparations ticked up a notch on Monday, with a practice delivery of supplies using Read More

The Oral History Wasn’t A Myth. Tsunamis Hit This Tribal Village Five Times, Study Shows

By Tom Banse May 7, 2019

A mural in Port Angeles shows Klallam plank houses, as they might have looked after being rebuilt following a long-ago tsunami. CREDIT: SARAH STERLING / PSU

A legend about a great flood has been passed down through the centuries among the Klallam people on the north side of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. As re-told by Klallam elder Ed Sampson on a recording preserved by a University of North Texas linguist, the people noticed the fresh water turning salty -- a detail from which we infer a tsunami. Read More

With No High Ground, Ocean Shores Considers How To Escape A Tsunami

By Tom Banse June 12, 2018

A tsunami warning siren in Ocean Shores, Washington. CREDIT: TOM BANSE

Ocean Shores, Washington, has no natural high ground inside its city limits. On Tuesday night, residents will meet with government and university experts to discuss whether to build a tsunami evacuation platform as in a few other Northwest coastal towns. Read More

New Tsunami Maps For Southwest Washington Coast Have ‘Shocking’ Flooding

By Tom Banse March 28, 2018

An aerial view of Ishinomaki, Japan, on March 18, 2011, one week after a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. CREDIT: LANCE CPL. ETHAN JOHNSON / U.S. MARINE CORPS - TINYURL.COM/Y76P2EO9

The worst case scenario for flooding from a tsunami along the Pacific Northwest coast just got even worse. Washington's Department of Natural Resources with federal help remapped the maximum tsunami threat from Grays Harbor down to the Columbia River mouth. Chief Hazard Geologist Corina Forson says updated science about the offshore Cascadia fault zone produces a bigger Read More

Washington Coast Residents Slept Through Tsunami Watch

By Austin Jenkins January 23, 2018

A 7.9 earthquake off the coast of Alaska triggered a tsunami watch that stretched from Washington to California early Tuesday morning. But many coastal residents slumbered right through it. Continue Reading Washington Coast Residents Slept Through Read More

Tsunami Zone Update Gets Pushback From Oregon Coast Legislators

By Tom Banse July 31, 2017

When a massive tsunami hit the northeast coast of Japan in 2011, waves of water overtopped sea walls, swallowed buildings and surged higher than anticipated. One thing those images prompted was… Continue Reading Tsunami Zone Update Gets Read More