August 14, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 5A
I
New Yorker story provides dubious advice
just want to thank The New
Yorker magazine for letting
us all know that a hugely de-
structive earthquake and tsuna-
mi could hit us at any time.
If it hadn’t been for that sto-
ry, we on the North Coast might
never have realized the danger
we are in.
It’s not like I and other local
journalists — including author
Bonnie Henderson, who wrote
the book, “The Next Tsunami:
Living on a Restless Coast” —
haven’t been writing about this
for many years.
Entitled “The Really Big One”
with a subhead, “The earthquake
that will devastate the 3aci¿ c
Northwest,” the story, written by
Katherine Schulz in the July 20
New Yorker, is accompanied by
a topographical map of the west
coast of North America in red.
At the coastline, from south
of the California border extend-
ing to beyond Canada, the map
looks like it has been ripped
apart; a wide jagged band of
white — resembling a huge
wave — covers all of the west
coast and heads east.
The caption next to the illus-
tration says, “The next full rup-
ture of the Cascadia subduction
zone will spell the worst natural
disaster in the history of the con-
tinent.”
Scary, huh?
I have followed the Casca-
dia subduction zone earthquake
and tsunami story for over eight
years. 0y ¿ rst story in the spring
of 2007 included an interview
At the Library
with Rob Witter, formerly of
the Oregon Department of Ge-
ology and Mineral Industries
(now with the U.S. Geological
Service in Alaska), who had just
discovered that sand originally
from the beach in Cannon Beach
had been thrown about a mile
east of what is now U.S. High-
way 101 during a past tsunami.
Witter made the discovery after
¿ ltering soil and determining its
properties and age in several ar-
eas between the beach and forest
east of town.
State geologists created a new
map for Cannon Beach, showing
that land higher than 30 feet in
elevation wasn’t as safe as ex-
perts originally thought. The
tsunami inundation zone now
reached 80 feet high.
With that news, the research
intensi¿ ed. Oregon State Uni-
versity Coastal and Ocean fac-
ulty, along with staffers from
DOGAMI, roamed the coast,
seeking clues revealing the po-
tential intensity and destructive
path of the next Cascadia earth-
quake and tsunami.
They wrote reports about the
sturdiness of local schools and
other buildings. They created
a model of the city of Cannon
Beach in OSU’s wave research
laboratory, knocked it down
with model tsunami waves and
studied their effect, then recreat-
ed the town and started all over
again.
They created a computer sim-
ulation of Seaside, showing how
long it would take a tsunami to
I MPRESSIONS
By
NANCY
McCARTHY
The potential
Cascadia
earthquake and
tsunami isn’t
news to us.
reach shore, then Necanicum
Drive, then the highway and
Wahanna Road and how many
people would die as the waves
washed over them.
A similar computer simula-
tion was done for Cannon Beach,
as well, showing how many peo-
ple might make it across the Fir
Street Bridge and to high ground
on the north side, as well as to
other elevated areas in town.
A year after the 2011 tsuna-
mi hit Japan, the principal from
Kesennuma Junior High School
in the Tohoku region told the
story of how his school, at an
elevation of 150 feet, became a
shelter for six months. At least
16,000 people died in the 9.0
earthquake and resulting tsuna-
mi, considered to be the most
devastating natural disaster ever
to hit Japan.
Locally, residents in Seaside,
Cannon Beach and Gearhart cre-
ated committees and prepared
for the Big One. They conducted
drills, stored supplies, trained
Community Emergency Re-
sponse
Teams
and continued
to perform myr-
iad other tasks
to ensure the
public’s safety.
State
geolo-
gists drew new
tsunami maps
for all of the
Oregon coast.
And at each
step, I and other r e -
porters were there, updating
our readers and listeners on
the latest developments.
Some people paid attention
and prepared. Others ig-
nored it. Until The New Yorker
writer discovered that the west
coast faced potential, over-
whelming disaster.
“When the next full-mar-
gin rupture happens,” Schulz
wrote, “that region (the 3aci¿ c
Northwest) will suffer the worst
natural disaster in the history
of North America.” It will kill
13,000 people and injure another
27,000, she says, citing the Fed-
eral Emergency Management
Agency’s estimates. Shelter will
be needed for 1 million people.
But we already knew that,
didn’t we? Well, at least the rest
of the nation knows now.
My question is this: Will The
New Yorker story make any dif-
ference in our urgency to pre-
pare for an event that, geolog-
ically speaking, could happen
any time? I hope so, because, to
be honest, no matter how much
we local journalists covered
it, our stories never
garnered as much
attention as this
one story has.
But what’s
going to be in-
teresting
on
a whole other
level is the local
fallout from the
July 28 New York-
er’s follow-up story
to Schulz’s original article.
Schulz answers several ques-
tions that arose following her
initial story. This is what she ad-
vises tourists:
“If you are an out-of-town-
er planning to spend a night in
the tsunami zone: don’t. Go to
the coast by day, for sure. But if
you’re staying overnight, book
a vacation rental, hotel room or
campsite outside the inundation
zone.”
For the coastal towns that de-
pend on overnight visitors, this
New Yorker story might portend
another, immediate disaster.
Nancy McCarthy recently
retired as editor of the Seaside
Signal and the Cannon Beach
Gazette. Her column appears
monthly.
CARLA O’REILLY
Summer is time to relax and enjoy it all at the library
Summer 2015 has been
a busy one at our Cannon
Beach Library, and much
has been accomplished!
Our new website is up,
our eBooks program has
been installed, and we’ve
rededicated the beautiful
Sroufe Memorial Fountain
in its new location in front
of our building. On top
of all that, we had a suc-
cessful July Fourth book
sale and are enjoying the
beautiful new landscaping
surrounding the library en-
trance.
On Saturday, Aug. 8,
children of all ages enjoyed
a wonderful magic show,
presented by the Amazing
Brett Willyard. The event
was free of charge.
Now that so much has
been accomplished, we
can relax and enjoy it all
— our shelves of wonder-
ful books, the warm breez-
es entering the library
through the open door
and windows, and espe-
cially our friendly visitors
who drop in to admire our
lovely quilt, purchase pre-
viously-enjoyed books, or
just relax and read awhile.
Speaking of the quilt, tick-
ets are still on sale, and the
quilt will be at the Farm-
er’s Market on Tuesday,
Aug. 18 for all to see. The
lucky winner will be an-
nounced at our Holiday
Tea in December.
Our second annual
summer reading contest,
CARLA O’REILLY
“Catch a Dragon by the
Tale,” began June 12 and
will end on Aug. 24. The
contest has been available
for children, tweens, and
teens. The grand prize win-
ner in each age group also
will be announced on Aug.
24.
Cannon Beach Reads
meets the third Wednes-
day of each month from 7
to 8:30 p.m. and will gath-
er on Wednesday Aug. 19
to discuss “The Lathe of
Heaven.” Written in 1971
by Ursula LeGuin, the book
is an award-winning sci-
ence ¿ ction novel revolving
around a character whose
dreams alter reality, includ-
ing past events. As always,
new members are welcome.
Looking ahead to Sep-
tember, popular author
J.A. Jance will be return-
ing to Cannon Beach and
will speak at the Coaster
Theater at 2 p.m. on Sept.
15. Her talk was a much
enjoyed event last summer,
so this year’s will be well
Obituary policy
The Cannon Beach Gazette pub-
lishes paid obituaries. The obituary
can include a small photo and, for
veterans, a flag symbol at no charge.
The deadline for all obituaries is 9
a.m. the business day prior.
Obituaries may be edited for spell-
ing, proper punctuation and style.
Death notices and upcoming services
will be published at no charge. No-
tices must be submitted by 9 a.m.
the day of publication.
Obituaries and notices may be sub-
mitted online at www.dailyastorian.
Cannon Beach Library hosted a Fourth of July book sale.
worth attending.
All in all, it’s been a
wonderful summer at the
Cannon Beach Library.
Come share the rest of it
with us!
The Coaster Theatre Playhouse Presents
com/obituaryform, by email at ew-
ilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via
the funeral home or in person at The
Daily Astorian office, 949 Exchange
St. in Astoria. For more information,
cal 503-325-3211, ext. 257.
pow ered b y
It Could Be
Any
One
Of Us
JUNE 12 - SEPT. 5, 2015
-81(6(37
performances begin
at 7:30 p.m.
performances begin
at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15 or $20
Tickets: $18 or $23
Sponsored by
The Ocean Lodge, Inn at
Cannon Beach, Lodges
at Cannon Beach, Probuild/
Milgard, Leland E.G. Larson
and U.S. Bank
Est. 1980
ANDREW MARC
239 N . H em lock • C an n on B each • 503.436.0208
BUDDIE ANDERSON/SUBMITTED PHOTO
Sponsored by
The Ocean Lodge, Inn at
Cannon Beach, Lodges at
Cannon Beach, Candi & Jon
Holzgrafe and Dennis’ 7 Dees
Tickets: 503-436-1242 or coastertheatre.com
m u s ic firs t
108 N Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, OR
:HOFRPH'U:LVEH\0DUWLQ
Erin Wisbey Martin, MD
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Family Medicine
Dr. Wisbey Martin specializes in
Women’s Health (Obstetrics and
Gynecology) and Family Medicine.
She is accepting new patients
and looking forward to building a
practice in North Tillamook County.
Please join us in welcoming Dr.
Wisbey Martin and her husband to
the community.
To make an appointment, call:
(503) 368-2292
Manzanita Primary & Specialty Care
10445 Neahkahnie Creek Road, Manzanita
adventisthealth.org/trmc
DĂŶnjĂŶŝƚĂWƌŝŵĂƌLJΘ^ƉĞĐŝĂůƚLJĂƌĞ
Appreciation Picnic
&HOHEUDWLQJ
ŽƵƌĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ͕ƉĂƟĞŶƚƐĂŶĚĐůŝŶŝĐƐƚĂī͘
WůĞĂƐĞũŽŝŶƵƐĨŽƌĂŶŽůĚĨĂƐŚŝŽŶĞĚƐƵŵŵĞƌƟŵĞƉŝĐŶŝĐ͊
&ŽŽĚ͕ůŝǀĞŵƵƐŝĐĂŶĚĨƵŶĨŽƌĂůů͘,ŽƉĞƚŽƐĞĞLJŽƵƚŚĞƌĞ͊
sunday, aug.
join us
ϭϬϰϰϱEĞĂŚŬĂŚŶŝĞƌĞĞŬZŽĂĚ͕DĂŶnjĂŶŝƚĂ
Please note: hƌŐĞŶƚĂƌĞǁŝůůĐůŽƐĞĂƚϭƉ͘ŵ͘ŽŶƵŐ͘ϭϲƐŽ
ƚŚĂƚĐůŝŶŝĐƐƚĂīĂŶĚƚŚĞŝƌĨĂŵŝůŝĞƐĐĂŶĂƩĞŶĚƚŚĞƉŝĐŶŝĐ͘
Tillamook Regional Medical Center
ĂĚǀĞŶƟƐƚŚĞĂůƚŚ͘ŽƌŐͬƚƌŵĐ