SALEM – The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has released the first of its new, second generation tsunami inundation maps for communities along the Oregon coast.

DOGAMI TIM-Coos-05, Tsunami Inundation Maps for Coos Bay – North Bend, Coos County, Oregon by DOGAMI, 2012, scale 1:12,000. Includes two plates showing local-source (Cascadia Subduction Zone) and distant-source (Alaska-Aleutian Subduction Zone) tsunami inundation scenarios.

DOGAMI is pleased to initiate the release of a new style of tsunami inundation maps that incorporate all the best tsunami science that is available today, including recent publications by colleagues studying the Cascadia Subduction Zone, updated computer simulation models using high-resolution lidar topographic data, and knowledge gained from the 2004 Sumatra, 2010 Chile, and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes and tsunamis.

Plate 1 displays five scenarios, labeled as “T-shirt sizes” (S, M, L, XL, and XXL), of the impact of Cascadia Subduction Zone tsunamis that reflect the full range of what was experienced in the past and will be encountered in the future. The geologic record shows that the amount of time that has passed since the last great Cascadia earthquake (312 years since January 26, 1700) is not a reliable indicator of the size of the next one, so the size ranges are intended to fully bracket what might happen next.

Plate 2 shows tsunami inundation scenarios for two distant-source tsunamis that were modeled and originate in Alaska. These distant tsunamis are not nearly as dangerous as the local ones, as Oregonians will have several hours instead of only minutes to evacuate and the tsunamis themselves are much smaller. For these reasons DOGAMI?s focus is on the big Cascadia events. If the ground shakes for an extended period of time, don?t wait for more warning, evacuate to high ground as fast as possible.

These maps include a wealth of information, including projected tsunami wave height time series charts and a measurement of the exposure each community has to the various tsunami scenarios: we count the number of buildings that are inundated by each scenario.

We hope that the public, planners, emergency managers and first responders, elected officials, and other local decision makers will use this detailed and innovative map product to mitigate risk and to reduce the loss of life and property.

To learn more about this publication and to see the anticipated publication schedule for other publications in the TIM series, visit:

http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/tim/p-TIM-Coos-05.htm

DOGAMI publication TIM-Coos-05 can be purchased on CD-ROM for $10 from the Nature of the Northwest Information Center (NNW), 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 965, Portland, Oregon, 97232. You may also call NNW at (971) 673-2331 or order online at http://www.naturenw.org. There is a $4 shipping and handling charge for all mailed items.

EDITORS NOTE: New inundation maps for the North Coast are expected to be released at a later date.