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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2018)
GIVING BACK INSIDE 146TH YEAR, NO. 87 DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018 A map shows the location of a 6.2 earthquake off the Oregon Coast in August. Seaside struggles most with chronic absenteeism Rate has worsened throughout the state RUMBLE STRIP By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian A cluster of earthquakes is a reminder to be prepared By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian S ince mid-July, several earth- quakes have rumbled off the Pacific coast, an uncomfort- able reminder to get prepared for the Big One. This month, a cluster of quakes rang- ing from magnitude 6.5 to 6.8 hit off Vancouver Island in British Colum- bia, with a 4.5 magnitude temblor strik- ing 171 miles and 6 miles deep off the southern Oregon Coast shortly after. Similar earthquakes near Bandon have registered multiple times throughout the summer, including a 6.2 quake in late August. While seismic activity along the North Coast has been relatively quiet, some of the shaking — and the fear of whether these earthquakes are indica- tors that a Cascadia Subduction Zone disaster is coming — has been felt by residents. Though recent earthquakes have received a lot of attention, their occur- rence should not be cause for any more alarm than usual, local geologist Tom Horning said. Earthquakes with magnitudes more than 4.0 often come in clusters about once every six to 18 months, Horning said. “This always comes up,” said Horn- ing, who serves on the Seaside City Council. “You’ll likely be talking to me again in two years.” The cluster happening near south- ern Oregon is along the Blanco Fracture Zone, a transform fault known to have frequent seismic activity. Because there ONE DOLLAR Seaside students continued to struggle the most with chronic absenteeism relative to their peers in Clatsop County and state- wide last school year. Chronic absenteeism is defined as miss- ing at least 10 percent of the school year. Nearly one-quarter of Seaside students were considered chronically absent last school year, according to state attendance reports, a nearly 1 percent increase from the year prior and up 7.5 percent from 2014-15. Around one-third of Seaside kindergart- ners and high schoolers last school year were considered chronically absent. “I think that we certainly need an improve- ment in our attendance,” said Sheila Roley, the school superintendent in Seaside. “It has become close to the top of our priority list.” The school district has a highly mobile population, with families sometimes moving out of the district and not letting the district know, Roley said. Families busy with work during the summer also take breaks during the school year to spend time together, rack- ing up absences, she said. See SEASIDE, Page 4A U.S. Geological Survey maps The star in the lower left corner of the map shows the location of a 4.5 earth- quake on Wednesday off the Oregon Coast. are no fault zones directly pointed near the North Coast, there is less constant stress. Consider it “nature’s way of dis- sipating friction,” Horning said. “It’s hard to reconcile what’s happen- ing in Vancouver with the center part of the subduction zone where we are,” he said. “It’s only an academic exercise to estimate how much stress could be pil- ing up or not as a result.” If anything, the fact the Cascadia Subduction Zone fault is so quiet is more notable, said Evelyn Roeloffs, a geophysicist from the U.S. Geological Survey. “We can’t make any association with earthquakes out in the ocean like (the ones) near southern Oregon and the tim- ing of when earthquakes might hit closer in the coastline,” she said. “Our sub- duction zone is unusual because we had large earthquakes in prehistoric times, and we expect to have a big earthquake in the future … But it’s so quiet now. That’s more the mysterious thing.” While the types of earthquakes and the frequency are not unusual, the amount of interest taken by the public and the news See QUAKES, Page 8A ‘THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD NOT ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BE LESS ALARMED OR MORE ALARMED. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF ALARMED LIVING HERE … AND YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE PREPARED.’ Coast Guard crew honored for disaster response Five given Air Medal By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian As an elderly woman was hoisted into a Coast Guard helicopter in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey last year, she surveyed the devastation that had befallen her rural Texas community. She then reached toward the sky in prayer. Lt. Kyle Murphy, a pilot, remembers the moment even more than the countless obsta- cles he and other crew members faced during the disaster. “I can still see the people that we picked up. I can see their faces,” Murphy said. Murphy and members of the two Air Sta- tion Astoria aircrews who responded to the hurricane were awarded Monday with the Air Medal. Other recipients of the medal, a mil- itary decoration that recognizes acts of her- oism and achievement during aerial flights, Tom Horning | local geologist See CREW, Page 8A DOLL ASYLUM A MACABRE REFUGE A Halloween fright on Harrison By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Most of the year, Mark Williams’ and Heidi Loutzen- hiser’s 1906 John Wicks-de- signed Victorian looks like any other historic home. But around Halloween, the couple’s home on Harri- son Avenue transforms into a macabre refuge known as the Doll Asylum. See ASYLUM, Page 8A Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian The Doll Asylum in Astoria includes around 1,200 toys arranged in various degrees of horror and humor around Mark Williams’ and Heidi Loutzenhiser’s Victorian home.
