With the possibility of a high-magnitude Cascadia earthquake, people across Oregon are giving more thought to disaster preparedness. But if you live on the coast, another natural threat looms – tsunamis.
The inaugural World Tsunami Awareness Day takes place Saturday, November 5th. Karen Parmelee with the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM) says they are promoting several tsunami preparedness resources for Oregon Coast communities. One is a comic book made in collaboration with Dark Horse Comics titled “Without Warning: Tsunami.”
“The idea is that it reaches out to our youth population in a way that they can relate to and get them to understand that they have the resources and that they are completely capable of being able to survive this.” Says Parmelee.
"Tsunami" is the second book of the "Without Warning" series. Dark Horse, OEM and the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup teamed up in 2014 to release "Earthquake," which aimed to teach teenagers earthquake preparedness.
World Tsunami Awareness Day was instated by the United Nations General Assembly Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in December of 2015. Tsunamis are among the deadliest of natural disasters. According to UNISDR, 58 separate tsunamis have occurred in the last hundred years, killing an average of 4,600 people per event. However, Parmelee wants Oregon residents to remember that these events are survivable, as long as people are prepared and informed.
For additional tsunami safety information, visit http://www.tsunamizone.org