Oregon Sea Grant Video Transcript:
Reaching Higher Ground
[Music with scenics and ambient sounds from Seaside, Oregon. Camera pans to sign that says “Tsunami.” Map displays earthquake, caption reads “125km West of Anchorage, Alaska 27 March, 1964 17:36 AST.”]
Fatigued radio transmission: THIS IS BULLETIN NUMBER 001. THIS IS A TIDAL WAVE/SEISMIC SEA WAVE ADVISORY. A SEVERE EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED LAT 61N LONG 147.5W VICINITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA AT 0336Z 28 MARCH.
Narrator: The Good Friday Earthquake, just before Easter in 1964, was a monster. The quake leveled structures in Alaska, and it generated a tsunami that tore through towns and villages along Pacific coastlines. The term "tsunami," meaning "harbor wave," was coined by the Japanese when they observed that their harbors would mysteriously drain out just prior to an incoming tsunami, then fill rapidly when the leading wave struck.
Narrator: In the town of Seaside, Oregon, the tsunami damage totaled a quarter million dollars, and 5 deaths were reported statewide.
Tom Horning, Engineering Geologist & Seaside Resident: I grew up along the river, playing all the time as a kid, and in 1964 when the tsunami of '64 came in it flooded my family's property, washed away the car, the fences, the dock, and left a foot of sand and large driftwood logs and destroyed my neighbor's homes.
Narrator: When these earthquakes and tsunamis strike, the impacts are felt around the globe. The devastating 2004 earthquake in Sumatra released so much energy, it even changed the shape of our planet, shifting the North Pole an inch to the east. The event also rallied Oregon scientists, because the same forces that shook Sumatra lie right off the Oregon coast.
James Roddy, Information Officer, Oregon Dept. of Geology: This is the rupture zone for that earthquake, 600 miles long. Gee, what does that sound like? And you take this peanut right here and you flip it over, and you put it right up here in the pacific northwest and it's an exact match.
Horning: Oregon, Washington, Northern California, and British Colombia all rest along a very large fault that runs between the edge of the contintent and the seafloor. It's a subduction zone. Just like Banda Aceh in the Sumatra area, just like Alaska from the 1964 event, or Southern Chile in 1960, these all generate magnitude 9.2 or greater earthquakes. They all have very similar behaviors--they generate large, seismic sea waves that come spreading down the coast killing people.
Narrator: A magnitude 9 earthquake here in the Cascadia Subduction Zone could generate a 35 foot-high tsunami wave at Seaside and other cities along the Oregon coast.
[Music and ambient sound from construction, caption reads “OSU Hinsdale Wave Research Lab Corvallis, Ore.”
Narrator: With support from Oregon Sea Grant, researchers, educators, and communities are working together to protect lives and reduce the effects of these devastating events. Repeatedly flooding this 1:50 scale model of downtown Seaside will help researchers to visualize the impacts that a tsunami would have on the real city. They'll use this information to make recommendations for the community.
Pat Corcoran, Hazards Outreach Specialist Oregon Sea Grant: Sea Grant is very important to this project. On the one hand, Sea Grant has funded some component of the research, and also through the Sea Grant network has extension agents like myself on the coast. And so we can then effectively communicate their research findings and translate that for local planning and mitigation planning and just personal safety.
Dan Cox, Director OSU Hinsdale Wave Research Lab: So what we're looking for to come out of this research is the potential for vertical evacuation, moving people up inside the inundation zone rather than outside of the zone. To do that, we need have a very good understanding of the flow speed and the flow depth in the areas primarily west of the river.
Narrator: Researchers will use the physical model to improve computer simulations. In the future, this will help engineers design buildings capable of withstanding both a large earthquake and a tsunami.
Narrator: OSU Professor Harry Yeh, and his colleagues, have developed a simulation that explores the potential benefits of vertical evacuation into large structures like this one in Japan.
Cox: This is called the Nishiki Tower. It's a little bit of a touristy area. And what they decided they wanted was a series of towers that were somewhat architecturally interesting if you will. This provided a couple of things. One is it allowed the architect to make multiple entry points, so that, you know, people in a little bit of a panic situation could get inside the building quickly. And they wanted it a little strange looking, believe it or not, so that when the tourists came into town and say "What's that building I just saw?" and then they say "Oh, that's where you go if there's ever a tsunami." So it provides a little bit of an educational benefit.
Narrator: In this simulation, the towers reduce the tsunami casualties from more than a thousand to a few hundred. But until such towers are built, coastal cities will need an alternative plan.
Cox: The likelihood having the Cascadia SZ event is about 14% in the next 50 years, so it's something we need to take this very seriously, and the research alone is not enough; we need to work directly with the communities on how best to educate people on what to do in the event of a tsunami
Corcoran: In the communities, they're struggling with how to prepare for these events, which fortunately are quite rare and infrequent, but they're frequent enough that we need to know how to plan for and deal with them when it will occur again. There has been increased awareness in such things like the signage that indicates that you're in a tsunami inundation zone and a general direction of where to go to get out of that are in place. The state department of geology and mineral industries has developed inundation and evacation maps so people know where the more dangerous and safer areas are. There have been some opportunities to capture grants to support some local educators that work with neighborhood groups on neighborhood preparedness.
Deb Treusdell, Tsunami Preparedness Coordinator: We were able to run close to 400 people through those groups, and it was just great to see the results from that. It's one thing to hand someone a brochure, have them go to a seminar, hear information, it's another to give them that information and then sit across the living room from them and talk about their situaiton. A lot of the questions we got were "Okay that's great, but my husband has a walker" or "So-and-so can't walk very fast."
Narrator: Ultimately, being prepared means that anyone who might be on the beach or in the downtown streets will know what a tsunami is and what to do to be safe when a tsunami strikes.
Corcoran: Do you know what a tsunami is?
Richard Latimer, Gig Harbor, WA: A tsunami--what I understand--is a huge wave caued by an earthquake offshore somewhere, some fault line deep under the ocean maybe, or another island.
Corcoran: ExcellentVery good that's exactly right. If we were standing hear and you heard sirens go off, what would you do and why?
Latimer: I would go and get in my car and follow the tsunami signs to get out of here, and get away from the coastline.
Corcoran: If we were standing here and you felt a large earthquake, what would you do and why?
Latimer: Well it's my understanding that the tsunami would not be caused by an earthquake this close to the... I mean the tsunami is coming from another earthquake off shore somewhere. And I kind of understood that if you had an earthquake right here you would not have a tsunami with a huge wave coming in. That's what I understood. Is that correct?
Corcoran: Well actually, no.
[laughs]
[cut to new interviewee, Roger Lindsley, Gearhart, OR]
Corcoran: So we're just wondering if you knew what a tsunami was.
Lindsley: Yes I do, it's a tidal wave.
Corcoran: Good.
[cut]
Corcoran: What would you do if, say uh, the earth started shaking right now. We're down here at Seaside at the turnaround and you start to feel the earth shake--what would that mean to you and what would you do?
Lindsley: I would need a new change of pants
[cut]
Lindsley: I would head for higher ground immediately.
Corcoran: Excellent. And where would that be from here.
Lindsley: From here it would either be the top of that hotel if it was still standing, or it would be sunset hills behind us to the east.
Corcoran: Excellent you've done your homework.
[cut]
Corcoran: How about if were standing here and the tsunami sirens went off, what would that mean to you and what would you do?
Lindsley: Well I would try to find out some information on the radio, where the tsunami was, and how log it would take to get here
Corcoran: Excellent so the good news is you didn't feel the earthquake and so you know that it's not the big one, but you gotta find out some more information. So that's excellent. Very good, it sounds like you've been primed or something.
Narrator: Preparation also means active participation by residents. In Seaside, people who want to get involved in disaster relief, first aid, and light search and rescue can apply for the Community Emergency Response volunteer program, in which they'll earn certification. Volunteer Roy Hackett is preparing caches filled with emergency rations and supplies.
Hackett: We're putting in 120 barrels on high ground. Our caches will be stored in individuals' garages. The top snaps off and makes a hermetic seal. And what you see on these two tables represents what will go in one barrel. We have nutrition bars, which, each bar will support one person for 3 days, 3600 calories. We have water purification systems, both pills that are added as well as ultraviolet processing. We have radios, first aid equipment. On the other table we have what you might call camping supplies.
Narrator: Because tsunamis are infrequent, maintaining people's awareness and getting them to act on that awareness, are challenging. Effective and ongoing public education, supported by government and aided by the media, is key.
Treusdell: I think thinks are gonna really start moving very rapidly in the near future. We had press coverage in Seaside and Portland, up and down the coast, people were very interested in the Hinsdale Wave Lab and Dan Cox and his work. We got fire chiefs and police chiefs and people from the coast guard and city managers and we all went down on a bus together and saw the wave lab and went back, so that was a great field trip for us to do. We have strong support by Rep. Debbie Boone in the state legislature. I think in Clatsop county we've made a lot of progress just in the last few weeks as far as pulling the cities together and getting more people involved and interested in preparing for the Cascadia Event.
Corcoran: In some ways, the tsunami earthquake scenario is not too much farther out of people's minds than an asteroid falling into the planet and causing widespread doom and gloom. And so people sometimes have a tendency check out. It's too big of a problem to really even worry about. If it happens it happens. And so, that's not true. We can simulate these events and there are things that we can do to reduce our risk and our impact.
Narrator: Historic records have shown us that a major earthquake or tsunami can be devastating to the Oregon coast. We can't predict exactly when one will occur. But communities, with the help of a catalyst like Oregon Sea Grant, can take knowledgeable steps to prepare themselves. Seaside is an example for others in starting to take those steps.
[end]© 2009 Oregon Sea Grant,
Oregon State University