Contents Volume 6, Number 5, Oct. 2004 Special features Oregon State Geologist and Director of the Oregon Tsunami ready? ................................................................................1 Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Dr. Vicki Steering Group minutes, excerpts ....................................................4 September is a month to prepare for hazards...................................5 McConnell, said in a prepared statement, "We find the Partnership for disaster education ....................................................6 areas and locations reported are very similar to the 4.9 Mega-scale events: Natural disasters and human behavior ...........10 magnitude earthquake that occurred on July 12. Both Book Review: Methods of Disaster Research ...............................14 earthquakes were located very near to each other, released Shoreline problem ..........................................................................15 Ship-sinking monster waves revealed by ESA satellites...............17 energy at similar depths and most likely had the same kind of movement along the fault." Departments A single earthquake was recorded on land in recent Hazard mitigation news....................................................................9 weeks—a 1.5 magnitude tremor recorded 15 miles south- Websites/Listservs .........................................................................12 Publications ....................................................................................11 southwest of Newport just before midnight on Aug. 10. Conferences/seminars/symposium.................................................12 Material added to NTHMP Library ...............................................15 Tsunami preparations IAQ .................................................................................................19 While earthquakes can be devastating, of particular Video reservations..........................................................................16 NTHMP Steering Group directory.................................................20 interest to coastal residents are quake-generated waves often referred to as tsunami, which means "port wave" or "harbor wave." Tsunami ready? In the event of an approaching tsunami, Lincoln City By Chad Richins Manager David Hawker said the city is prepared to broad- Reprinted by permission of The News Guard, Lincoln cast street by street from city vehicles to warn those in the City, Oregon inundation area. Hawker said the city is in good shape for Originally published: August 24, 2004 a major emergency, but more can definitely be done to improve that readiness. A series of local earthquakes has coastal residents "I think it can be better and we're working on that," and government officials alike talking about what to do in Hawker said. "We're fine tuning communications and the event of a major disaster. operations because I'm not satisfied that we have the The 4.7 magnitude earthquake, centered just 12 miles necessary means to get the word out to the public." west of Newport at 11:06 p.m. on Thursday, woke many Both city and county emergency officials also have local residents, but no damage associated with the event satellite phones that enable them to stay in contact with has been reported. state and federal officials in the event of a major disaster. The relatively low-magnitude trembler was felt as far The county is currently developing a new support vehicle north as Astoria, as far south as Reedsport, and inland that will aid in local communications. That vehicle should across the Willamette Valley to the base of the Cascade be ready in a month, according to Lincoln County's Emer- Range, according to reports from the United States Geo- gency Services Department Manager Jim Hawley. logical Survey. Even within the Homeland Security ap- Hawker said in the event of a large earthquake that paratus, minimal attention is being paid to matters beyond collapses all local bridges, only the D River bridge could prevention of terrorism-related disasters, as Secretary forseeably be repaired in a short amount of time. Hawley Ridge himself has stated. Only recently have inquiries concurred and said help for local residents would proba- been made about mitigation possibilities and recovery bly have to come from cities inland. issues stemming from a WMD-related event. Aftershocks, "People cannot rely on the city or the fire district or which were too small to be felt, continued to be recorded the state or the county," Hawker said. "They have to be as late as Monday morning, when a 2.3 magnitude quake (continued on page 3) occurred in the same area. TsuInfo Alert is prepared by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources on behalf of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, a State/Federal Partnership funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is assembled by Lee Walkling, Librarian, and is published bi-monthly by the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources. This publication is free upon request and is available in print (by surface mail), electronically (by e-mail), and at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/tsuinfo/index.html. Participants in the TsuInfo program can request copies of reports listed in this issue from: Washington Geology Library Washington Department of Natural Resources Division of Geology and Earth Resources 1111 Washington Street SE, MS 47007 Olympia, WA 98504-7007 360/902-1473 fax: 360/902-1785 e-mail: [email protected] The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of NOAA, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, or other sponsors of TsuInfo Alert. TsuInfo Alert, v. 6, no. 5 October 2004 2 (continued from p. 1) prepared themselves." Hawley said earthquake and tsu- Jones also advised preparing for at least one week nami education efforts have been successful with locals, with no utility services and no medical attention, pointing but visitors are often unaware of potential dangers. out that more than one week after Hurricane Charley hit "We have a permanent population of 4,700 people in Florida, hundreds of thousands of residents are still with- this county and right now we probably have 100,000 peo- out electricity. ple here, and a lot of them can't even spell tsunami. They Tsunami inundation area maps are available at city have no idea," Hawley said. Residents and visitors alike hall and the county website has other emergency infor- should abandon local beaches at the first sign of a tremor mation at www.co.lincoln.or.us/emergency. due to the risk of a tsunami, Hawley said. The News Guard's Ezra Casteel contributed to Lincoln City Emergency Coordinator Sheridan Jones this report. agreed with Hawley that after any seismic event, beaches The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration should be cleared, Jones added that anyone living within is sponsoring a program called STORM READY or TSU- 50 feet of elevation from the shoreline should turn on a NAMI READY. radio or television and listen for news of the event. STORM READY is primarily for states or parts of Jones also noted that the local tsunami warning sirens state that must respond to weather-related hazards. are not considered by the city to be part of the early warn- TSUNAMI READY is designed to make sure coastal ing system until they can be placed higher and cover more areas are prepared for all hazards including local or dis- area. tant tsunamis. "Any earthquake offshore is your warning," said Under the direction of Tyree Wilde, Warning Coor- Jones. dination Meteorologist for NOAA, the City of Lincoln City has been working hard to meet the TSUNAMI Water rears up READY criteria in the application form. Lincoln City, Most tsunami are just a few inches high as they travel under the direction of Sheridan Jones, has been working across the open ocean and people on boats at sea may not to put in place emergency plans as well as an equipment even realize they have passed. When tsunami approach a training program for all hazards. coastline and reach shallower water they can rear up to a This effort was not put forth in isolation. It was a height of several feet, or in rare cases, dozens of feet. team effort by the State OEM (Oregon Emergency Man- A tsunami generated by an Alaskan earthquake in agement); DOGAMI (Department of Geology and Min- 1964 caused several deaths in Oregon and more in Cali- eral Industry); County Emergency Center; City Depart- fornia. The initial quake shook the ground for more than ments, Fire Department and local hospitals. four minutes and is the largest earthquake ever recorded As a result of this effort the City is close to meeting in North America. At a magnitude of 9.2, it is also the all the criteria for certification as TSUNAMI READY. second largest ever recorded in the world. The actual One project under the direction of Lila Bradley and as- quake, however, killed less than a dozen people, but the sisted by Jack Preston is to complete the Tsunami signing tsunami generated by the upheaval of land and displace- project. The signs designate evacuation sites. The tsunami ment of water killed 119 people from Alaska to Califor- evacuation maps are available at City Hall, Visitor Infor- nia, including four children visiting Beverly Beach near mation Center, Chamber of Commerce, and various Newport with their family. The tsunami killed 10 people motels in Lincoln City. in Crescent City, Calif., many of whom were lost when NOAA