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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015
The tsunami that changed Cannon Beach
By ELAINE TRUCKE
For The Daily Astorian
W
ith the recent article
in The New Yorker
making the rounds,
I thought this would be a good
time to look back on what hap-
pened in 1964. Some of you are
probably saying, “OK, I get it,
tsunamis. The coast is a danger-
ous place.” Insert eye roll here,
but the thing is a tsunami is a
real possibility. And for some of
us a constant threat in the back
of our mind. Could what happen
in 1964 be worse? Could Can-
non Beach handle it?
On March 27, 1964 a
megathrust quake (sometimes
referred to as the Good Friday
earthquake) shook Anchorage,
Alaska, to its core. The term
“megathrust” refers to a quake
that occurs when one tectonic
plate is forced under another,
otherwise known as subduction.
This type of quake can exceed
9.0 in magnitude; the Good
Friday quake was a 9.2. Trem-
ors lasted for four minutes and
set into motion a tsunami that
swept along the North American
shoreline.
Many coastal communities
were unaware of the strength of
such a quake, or of the tsunami
heading their way.
‘Big bet’
In the early morning hours of
March 27 a group of six poker
players had gathered at Frank
Hammond’s house. A “big bet”
of $15 was on the table when the
phone rang. Bill Steidel, one of
the poker players, recalls, “The
phone rang and one of the men
got up and answered the phone.
‘They said there’s a tidal wave
coming,’ he said. We all ignored
it, because we heard that every
winter, that there were some big
waves coming. It wasn’t unusu-
al to hear that.”
Then the second call came.
The wave had hit. As Steidel re-
calls in his 1995 Cannon Beach
History Center oral history
interview, “We said to Ham-
mond, ‘Where are you going?’
Hammond says, ‘The last wave
broke over, you know that tree
in my driveway — the last wave
broke over the top of that tree.’”
The tree was 30 feet tall.
Steidel describes the scene
as a “Laurel and Hardy picture.”
Every man ran for the door at
the same time. Then they scram-
bled into their cars and made for
their families as quickly as they
could.
Rebuffed, at first
The news of the quake in
Alaska and tales of an ap-
proaching tsunami was rebuffed
by some, at least at first. The
community of Cannon Beach
was prepared for any number
of northern squalls, floods, and
fires, but this was something dif-
ferent, something unexpected.
Bridget Snow and her hus-
band had a unique view from
one of the bluffs in Cannon
Beach. As they scanned the sea
they noticed the wave approach-
ing, curling to shore and rising
in height about a foot a second,
about 10 feet in all.
By the time the first wave
made it to shore it was a 30-foot
wall of water.
Elsewhere in Cannon Beach
— Margaret Sroufe glanced out
her window and was shocked
to see dancing blue and green
orbs right before the power went
out. Intrigued, she made for her
porch. Sroufe and her husband
had an unprecedented view of
the damage caused by the tsuna-
mi from their home on west side
of Elm Street. “There was a little
duplex down the street, and the
duplex started to move,” Sroufe
remembers. “It hit the telephone
pole, and went around the tele-
phone pole, and ended way back
up in the pasture. And the bridge
lifted up and moved on back
into the pasture. It came right up
to the edge of our driveway. We
just stood there with our arms
around each other watching the
water come up.”
Bridge was gone
Those who were heading for
high ground via the Ecola Creek
Bridge were shocked to find
that it was gone. Steidel was the
first to arrive. “The bridge was
gone,” he said, “The water was
all around me, and then a house
went by. The house went over
into the meadow and settled
down.”
The tsunami only picked
up speed as it moved further
down the coastline. In Crescent
City, Calif., it moved with such
strength and velocity that when
hitting the shore, seagulls were
caught in midair by the rushing
30-foot — or more — waves.
Witnesses have referred to these
waves as “walls of water.”
Cannon Beach History Center/Submitted Photo
A bridge is out during the 1964 tsunami.
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Cannon Beach History Center/Submitted Photo
Surveying damage after the 1964 tsunami.
The north end of Cannon
Beach was the hardest hit by the
’64 tsunami. Homes were torn
from foundations or flooded. In
addition, the Ecola Creek Bridge
was completely destroyed leav-
ing behind only skeletal pieces
of wood hanging from the road
on either side. Tsunami debris
was distributed throughout the
town. Though Cannon Beach
did not experience the fatalities
or devastation of other coastal
communities, it was a shocking
occurrence that changed how
those who live at the coast react
to a tsunami.
The 1964 tsunami wasn’t the
first, nor will it be the last time
that the coast is hit by a tsuna-
mi. The threat of a tsunami has
always been a threat. There is
extensive archaeological evi-
dence and geological records
that indicate past severe seismic
events that have caused devasta-
tion along the entire west coast.
Native American oral traditions
of the region further confirm
that such events have impacted
ancient populations in the past.
Cascadia Subduction
Zone
Archaeological work done
in areas around Port Townsend,
various parts of Oregon and
Northern California have shown
that the Cascadia Subduction
Zone has been and will be re-
sponsible for earthquakes and
tsunamis. One such event oc-
curred on Jan. 26, 1700. How
can we be so accurate on this
date? The tsunami of 1700 was
so devastating that it reached
the shore of Japan and the time
and date were recorded there. In
addition to the records in Japan,
Taylor remain
NEWS
County makes a splash
dendrochronology and Native
American oral traditions further
substantiate a devastating tsuna-
mi in 1700.
Nearly every year new in-
formation becomes available
to the public thanks to the hard
work of geologists, archaeolo-
gists, and other scientists. This
information does not fall on
deaf ears, which is why tsunami
safety and preparedness has be-
come synonymous with the Or-
egon Coast, specifically Cannon
Beach.
Evacuation plans
Cannon Beach has had a
strong emergency prepared-
ness program for years. In
fact, on April 14, 2010, The
New York Times commended
Cannon Beach for the city’s
tsunami preparedness plans
and proclaimed the town to be
at the forefront with policies.
Despite some of the claims
in the infamous New York-
er article, many hotels in the
area have evacuation plans
outlined for guests, signs
throughout town direct in-
alling all disaffected locals, transplanted Portland hipsters and
dreadlocked flyover state dudes looking to find their art in As-
toria!
We have the ideal title for your work, courtesy of emergency dispatch: “A
Boy Pushed a Safeway Cart Into the Columbia River.”
You’re welcome.
Also, some folks were improperly selling steaks. And three goats were at
large.
Follow reporter Kyle Spurr on his 9-1-What? Twitter watch, where a few
of the sometimes head-scratching calls to area dispatch take center stage. The
full feed is at www.twitter.com/9_1_WHAT.
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habitants to the safety of high
ground, and local business-
es have begun to construct
tsunami and earthquake safe
buildings.
Education is still the No. 1
combatant against casualties
related to tsunamis and earth-
quakes. Safety drills, work-
shops, and community forums
have led to a well-educated
community.
Elaine Trucke is the exec-
utive director of the Cannon
Beach History Center and Mu-
seum.
Entitled
stry spo
allenges
Inside: Indu
copes with ch
Shellfish farm
an conditions
oce
nging
s optimistic despite cha
tlight:
Cannon Beach History Center/Submitted Photo
Potential earthquake sources in the Pacific Northwest.
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