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New Maritime Guide Helps Boaters Prepare For Tsunami

www.oregongeology.org

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries published a tsunami guide for fisherman, mariners and boaters on Tuesday. The recent earthquakes off the coast of Oregon did not produce any tsunamis, but the guide lets boaters know how they should be prepared.

The guide is brand new says Ali Ryan with the department of Geology. She says depending on where boaters are in the event of a local or distant tsunami determines whether they should evacuate or go out to sea.

Ryan: "In the event of a local tsunami so that would be a tsunami that's generated by a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. When that happens it's not a distant tsunami where you could have four hours of warning before the tsunami reaches Oregon—it's as little as ten minutes."

Ryan says a temblor produced by the Cascadia Subduction Zone would be felt on the coast and across the state and a tsunami would follow.  Subduction zones produce the largest earthquakes according to Ryan.

She says a quake would need to be approximately a magnitude 7.0 to generate a tsunami. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, which runs as close as 50 miles to the Oregon coast, could easily produce a 9.0 event.

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