Tsunami Awareness & Preparedness in Cascadia Region

CREW is committed to raising awareness of the tsunami risk in the Cascadia region while promoting mitigation and preparedness. Many lessons have been learned from the March 11, 2011 Great East Japanese (Tohoku) earthquake and tsunami – these also apply to the seismically-similar Cascadia Subduction Zone.

The following links provide additional information on ongoing awareness and preparedness activities in the Cascadia region:

Washington State

  • In a Seattle Times, CREW Vice-President John Schelling and CREW Treasurer Tim Walsh express the importance of ongoing awareness activities along with the scientific information needed to better quantify Cascadia’s risk.
  • Washington Emergency Management Division has more information on how to prepare to hazards in Washington state.
  • Project Safe Haven, completed in 2011, developed vertical evacuation options for the counties of Pacific and Grays Harbor.

Oregon

British Columbia

For more information on earthquakes, tsunamis, and how to prepare, please visit our pages on Earthquake Information, Risk Reduction, and read more in our Products and Programs.

If you have any questions, please Contact Us.

New publication on vertical-evacuation siting for Cascadia tsunami hazards

Researchers at the USGS, Sacramento State University and the Washington State Military Department recently published an article on how to compare sites for vertical-evacuation refuges to minimize loss of life from tsunamis associated with Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes. The case study of Ocean Shores, Washington, integrates refuge options derived at Project Safe Haven workshops, geospatial pedestrian evacuation modeling, and statistical methods to compare benefits and tradeoffs. The article is available online from the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420914000387. For more information, contact Nathan Wood, Portland, OR, 503-251-3291, nwood@usgs.gov.