Oregon Tsunami Clearinghouse / Resource Library

Tsunami Regulatory Maps (Oregon Senate Bill 379) for the State of Oregon

Tsunami regulatory maps are the official State maps for implementation of Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 455.446 and 455.447, limiting, through the Oregon Building Code, construction of certain critical and essential facilities in the tsunami inundation zone. They show a single tsunami inundation line on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps. These statutes were enacted in 1995 as a result of Oregon Senate Bill 379; the regulatory maps are thus sometimes referred to as "SB 379 maps."

These regulatory maps are not intended for emergency evacuation purposes and do not necessarily represent tsunami inundation from a worst-case event. They show the best estimate of tsunami inundation from a typical or most likely tsunami originating from earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone fault. This fault is located on the seafloor near the Oregon coast. The regulatory maps are based on scientific knowledge available in 1995.

For more information on how these maps were constructed, read Explanation of Mapping Methods and Use of the Tsunami Hazard Maps of the Oregon Coast, DOGAMI Open-File Report 95-67, by George R. Priest, 1995.

For more information on the regulations, contact your local Building Code official and read Development in Oregon's tsunami inundation zone: Information guide for developers and local government, DOGAMI Open-File Report 03-05, by D. L. Olmstead, 2003.

Page last updated May 28, 2021