Oregon Tsunami Clearinghouse / Resource Library

 Why and how to "Drop, Cover, and Hold On!"

6:19 minutes, Demonstration by Professor Lori Dengler, 2009 Great California Shakeout, YouTube channel

Earthquakes in Oregon!

40:39 minutes, 277,608 KB, .mov file

Washington County Public Affairs Forum presentation.

Tsunami Inundation Scenario Animations for the Oregon Coast

The following are two-dimensional animations of tsunami inundation for the project areas listed. Each animation contains insets that zoom into a city or area of interest within the project area. Colors in the animations depict wave elevation in meters above Mean Higher High Water (the tidal datum used in all tsunami simulations). The time step between frames in the animations is 1 minute.Filenames include the tsunami scenario name and the general location. For more information on the scenarios, please see the summary report provided in the associated open-file report.

Cascadia XXL scenarios, from north to south:

Clatsop area:

Columbia River mouth (.wmv file, 18 MB)

Seaside - Cannon Beach (.wmv file, 33 MB)

— from DOGAMI Open-File Report O-13-18

Tillamook area:

Garibaldi - Bay City - Netarts Bay (.wmv file, 10.3 MB)

Manzanita - Nehalem - Pacific City - Nestucca Bay (.wmv file, 5.9 MB)

— from DOGAMI Open-File Report O-13-17

Central Coast area:

Lincoln City (.avi file, 8.8 MB)

Depoe Bay (.avi file, 8.1 MB)

Newport - Toledo (.avi file, 9.2 MB)

Waldport (.avi file, 9.5 MB)

Yachats (.avi file, 9 MB)

Florence (.avi file, 10.6 MB)

Reedsport (.avi file, 10 MB)

— from DOGAMI Open-File Report O-13-16

Coos Bay area:

Coos Bay (animated .gif file, 4.5 MB)

— from DOGAMI Open-File Report O-13-15

Bandon area:

Bandon (animated .gif file, 4.8 MB)

— from DOGAMI Open-File Report O-13-14

South Coast area:

South Coast (animated .gif file, 4.8 MB)

— from DOGAMI Open-File Report O-13-13

1:25 minutes, YouTube

At 5:36 pm on Friday, March 27, 1964 the largest earthquake ever measured in North America, and the second-largest recorded anywhere, struck 40 miles west of Valdez, Alaska in Prince William Sound with a moment magnitude we now know to be 9.2. The earthquake generated a tsunami that killed 124 people (5 in Oregon) and caused about $2.3 billion (2016 dollars) in property loss all along the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to southern California and in Hawaii. The greatest wave heights were in Alaska at over 220 feet. Waves as high as 12 feet struck Oregon.

As part of its response to this event the United States government created a second tsunami warning facility in 1967 at the Palmer Observatory, Alaska--now called the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC)--to help mitigate future tsunami threats to Alaska, Canada, and the U.S. Mainland.

Today, more than 50 years since the Great Alaska Earthquake, the Real-Time Forecasting of Tsunamis (RIFT) forecast model takes earthquake information as input and calculates how the waves move through the world?s oceans, predicting their speed, wavelength, and amplitude. This animation shows these values through the simulated motion of the waves and as they travel through the world?s oceans.

Tsunami Forecast Model Animation: Cascadia 1700

1:20 minutes, YouTube

On January 27, 1700 a tsunami struck the coasts of Japan without warning? no one in Japan felt the earthquake that must have caused it. A very large earthquake?perhaps as large as 9.2 magnitude, comparable to the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964?had ruptured the earth along the entire length of the 1,000 km (600 mi) long fault of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This NOAA/NWS/Pacific Tsunami Warning Center animation models tsunami wave speed, wavelength, and amplitude through 24 hours of simulated motion and as the waves race around the globe from the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

Learn more from the USGS about the 1700 tsunami

Tsunami Forecast Model Animation: Japan 2011

1:50 minutes, YouTube

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 moment magnitude earthquake struck near the coastline of Honshu, Japan. The tsunami caused the greatest devastation and over 17,000 deaths in Japan, where waves reached over 40 m or 130 ft. high. After traveling across the Pacific, the tsunami rose to more than 5 m or 16 ft. in Hawaii and more than 2 m or 6.5 ft in California and Oregon. This NOAA/NWS/Pacific Tsunami Warning Center animation models tsunami wave speed, wavelength, and amplitude through 36 hours of simulated motion and as the waves race around the globe from the Japan earthquake.

Learn more from the USGS about the 2011 tsunami

USGS poster of the Great Tohoku Earthquake

Levels of NWS tsunami messages:

Tsunami Warning 0:30 minutes, .mp3 file

Tsunami Advisory 0:30 minutes, .mp3 file

Tsunami Watch 0:30 minutes, .mp3 file

Tsunami Information Statement 0:30 minutes, .mp3 file