Northwest communities prepare for major tsunami

A magnitude-6.9 earthquake near Japan sent a ripple effect to the West Coast Tuesday morning.

While residents of Fukushima, Japan were evacuating due to what is being called an aftershock of the 2011 quake that spawned a deadly tsunami, people in western Washington questioned whether it presented any to them.

What scares FEMA the most about a major Northwest earthquake

As reports of moderate tsunamis came in, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assured residents on the West Coast they were not in danger. But what if those cities on the coast did face a tsunami after the major earthquake?

If a major 9.0 earthquake strikes the Northwest, it is likely that a 45-50 foot wave will strike the west coast, The New Yorker reports. That’s a bit different than what is expected in the Puget Sound region. The wave will likely weaken considerably thanks to a narrow strait and an entire mountain range between Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean.

Coastal communities

Lining the coasts of Washington and Oregon, there are many cities that will face a massive wave. That includes places such as Long Beach, Ocean Shores, Astoria and Cannon Beach. Cities like Long Beach have rather small populations — about 1,300. There’s about 1,700 for Cannon Beach in Oregon. Nearby Astoria has approximately 9,500 people. And Lincoln City, Ore. has about 8,000 people.

Farther north is a cluster of communities around Grays Harbor with roughly 8,700 residents. They will see the wave before Aberdeen and Hoquiam at the other end of the harbor with 16,000 and 8,400 people, respectively. Much of Aberdeen and Hoquiam are within a tsunami zone, as evacuation plans note. Those plans state that walking on foot will likely be the best escape plan, as roads could be damaged. State vulnerability assessments note that some tsunamis could take hours to reach the coastline, but a major 9.0 quake could send a wall of water to the coast within 25-30 minutes.

The Seattle Times reports that, altogether, there are about 100,000 people in danger of a tsunami on the Northwest coast.

As an example of what these communities face, The New Yorker points to Oregon’s Seaside School District, which has about 1,500 students in four buildings. The town itself has a population of about 6,500 people. Three of its school buildings are located around sea level. Those students will have roughly 15 minutes to get to safer ground before that 45-50 foot wave hits the coastline. That is if they manage to escape the rubble that was once their schools — none of the buildings were built to withstand an earthquake or are seismically retrofitted.

The school district has been taking steps to meet the challenges posed by a Big One ever since the 90s. Part of step is a bond measure that was up for approval this election. It passed with 65 percent approval. The $99.7 million bond will go toward a new K-12 school and other measures to protect the district from a tsunami. Its approval comes just two years after a similar bond for $128.8 million was rejected.

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