How to Determine if There is Currently a Tsunami Warning in Effect along the Oregon Coast

There have been concerns that there was a tsunami warning in South Beach when there was not in August and October 2005. The night of Monday, 15 August 2005 (our time) there was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Japan, and some were concerned about whether there would be a tsunami South Beach. During the day of 19 October 2005, an error at the Portland National Weather Service office resulted in a test tsunami warning being broadcast, but many people did not realize that it was a test. The uncertainty of whether there is a tsunami warning or not and whether people in tsunami inundation zones should evacuate is very unsettling.

But it is possible for citizens to find out if there is currently a tsunami warning or not. This message is divided into two parts:

1) ways to determine if there is currently a tsunami warning

2) ways to prepare to receive tsunami warnings in the future.

I) WAYS TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS CURRENTLY A TSUNAMI WARNING

I-1) NOAA's Portland National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office (http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr)

• You can bookmark this web site in your browser or you can add this web site as an icon to your computer desktop for quick access by right-clicking on their web page in Internet Explorer and select "Create Shortcut."
• This site has a map with Oregon weather and tsunami warnings, watches, and advisories and is updated when new information becomes avaiable. Their web page and messages are easier to understand than the West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center web page (see I-2 below). For example, the National Weather Service gives times as AM and PM in local time.
• This page does include tsunamis warnings and watches as well as coastal marine and weather advisories--scroll to the bottom of http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/info/coast.php.
• The National Weather Service does not have the authority to tell you to evacuate--that is the responsibility of local government. But if the National Weather Service reports a tsunami warning for Oregon and you are in a tsunami inundation zone, then it would be prudent to evacuate and to not return until they report that the warning has been cancelled.

I-2) NOAA's West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/message.shtml)

• You can bookmark this web site in your browser or you can add this web site as an icon to your computer desktop for quick access by right-clicking on their web page in Internet Explorer and select "Create Shortcut."
• It is important to scroll down their messages because the text message may appear to finished, but that there may be more information (especially the predicted times of the first tsunami wave) below. Also, there may have been several earthquakes greater than Magnitude 4 in the Pacific Basin, so the top (most recent) message may not necessarily be for the earthquake that could cause a tsunami, so scroll down.
• The West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center issues bulletins within 10 minutes of an earthquake (see their FAQ at http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/frequently.htm). These include informational bulletins or messages issued for earthquakes not likely to trigger a tsunami along the West Coast, tsunami warnings, or tsunami watches; these are defined at http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/definition.htm. If they issue a tsunami watch for Oregon, then it is important to periodically monitor their web site to see if they change the tsunami watch to a tsunami warning. After issuing a tsunami warning or watch, they will later issue a bulletin to cancel it, when they feel it is safe.
• They will issue a tsunami warning for earthquakes of Magnitude 7.0 or greater along the coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California or for Magnitude 7.5 or greater earthquakes elsewhere that are likely to impact our coast (see their FAQ at http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/frequently.htm).
• Remember: the West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center does NOT have the authority to tell people to evacuate and will NOT do so--that is the responsibility of local government. But if they issue a tsunami warning and you are in a tsunami inundation zone, then it would be prudent to evacuate.
• It would also be prudent to not return to a tsunami inundation zone until after the West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center cancels their tsunami warning for Oregon.

If you do not save the above web address and are in a hurry, just remember to Google (search) the Internet for "West Coast Tsunami" and select the West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (Palmer, Alaska) site.

I-3) NOAA Weather Radios

I-4) USGS' Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (http://www.pnsn.org/recenteqs/latest.htm)

• If an earthquake originated in the Pacific Northwest, check out this page, which is "updated within 5 minutes of an earthquake." Note that they give times in the 24-hour or "military" format, where 1200 is added to times after noon (e.g., 1 PM=1300, 2 PM=1400).
• You can bookmark this web site in your browser or you can add this web site as an icon to your computer desktop for quick access by right-clicking on their web page in Internet Explorer and select "Create Shortcut."
• A tsunami warning is likely if the earthquake is Magnitude 7.0 or greater and along the coast (see I-2 above).

I-5) Portland broadcast TV stations or NW Cable News (http://www.nwcn.com/). Many people learned of the June 14 tsunami warning while watching them, but some broadcast stations also reported the warning was over before it was actually cancelled. It is not clear if this was because the stations were given faulty information.

I-6) Lincoln County radio stations are supposed to broadcast tsunami warnings. However, most failed to do so, or did not do so until late for the June 14 tsunami warning. Others broadcasted the warning only once and then resumed normal broadcasting, so if you were not listening closely at the single time of broadcast of the warning, you would have missed it. Perhaps, the policy of local radio stations will change to like those in other areas where they broadcast warnings continuously. In any case, if a tsunami warning is not heard while listening to local radio stations, it is not clear if there is no warning or if there is a warning, but it is not being broadcast.

I-7) Local Newport government did not provide a tsunami warning the night of August 15. But they also did not do so for the June 14 tsunami warning. So it was not clear if the lack of notification of a tsunami warning by local government the night of August 15 was because there was no tsunami warning or because, like on June 14, Newport government did not relay on a tsunami warning.
Tsunami sirens are being discussed for the Newport area. Even if they are installed, they may not alert people to a tsunami warning, if local government officials do not activate them or if a siren malfunctions. For the June 14 tsunami warning, local officials in several Oregon coastal communities chose to not activate sirens or delayed activation of sirens until it was too late to complete evacuation; other sirens were activated but did not sound because they malfunctioned as they had not been maintained. So the absence of a warning by sirens does not necessarily mean that there is no tsunami warning.

II) WAYS TO PREPARE TO RECEIVE TSUNAMI WARNINGS IN THE FUTURE

II-1) Buy a NOAA Weather ("All Hazards") Radio with an alarm feature

II-2. RAIN's Connect & Protect Program (http://www.rainsnet.org/programs/tsunami_alert.asp)

See their web page (http://www.rainsnet.org/programs/tsunami_alert.asp) for more information about it, including testimonials from Clatsop County for its operation during the June 14 tsunami warning, and endorsements from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and Ken Murphy, Director, Oregon Emergency Management. Their web page includes the following:

The Connect & Protect tsunami warning service is the nations first state-sanctioned, community-sponsored targeted alert system for tsunami warning and response and a direct result of the unique state-sponsored RAINS private/public alliance at work. The alerts are now distributed directly from NOAA through the Connect & Protect network without human intervention to a community-based network of public safety stakeholders. The service targets recipients based on specific geographic location, severity of incident, and issuing agency ensuring the right information is delivered to the right individual at the right time.

II-3) TsunamiWatcher email lists (http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/tsunamiwatcher.htm) by the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (which is the one and only Tsunami Warning Center that includes Oregon). One can sign up for free to receive tsunami warnings or watches or all messages issued by this warning center. Options are included for receiving a short message that is "useful for cell phones." This would be useful if one checks one's email often or if there is an alert feature on one's computer or cell phone when an email arrives. If not, then one may not learn of a tsunami warning in time.
I have signed up to receive "ALL messages issued for the US West Coast, British Columbia and Alaska" and not just for warnings and watches because it trains me in how to read their messages, that seem awkward.

II-4) The Emergency Email & Wireless Network (http://www.emergencyemail.org). Receive free emergency messages by computer, cell phone, digital pager, or FAX. Their web site states: "EEN's email alert messages are based on emergency information aggregated from federal government agencies and public safety emergency groups such as the US National Weather Service, US Geological Service, the Red Cross and other emergency authorities. ... In operation since 1999, EEN is the largest private provider of official emergency preparedness communications in the nation..."
This service is one of the vendors listed for NOAA's Emergency Managers Information Network (EMWIN) (http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/winven.htm).
This would be useful if one checks one's email often or if there is an alert feature on one's computer, cell phone, digital pager, or FAX when an email arrives. If not, then one may not learn of a tsunami warning in time.

Return to Tsunami Warnings: Concerns about Response of Local Governments in Lincoln County, Oregon