Cascadia's Tsunami EarthCache
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This earthcache will take you to a NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) tsunami warning tower at the Sandy Point fire station. It's okay to park at the station, but please stay clear of the fire engine/paramedic doors!
At approximately 9 p.m. on January 26, 1700, a magnitude 9 earthquake occurred off the Pacific Northwest coast. The location of the slip, a tectonic boundary known as the Cascadia subduction zone, uplifted the seafloor suddenly, causing an oscillation of the ocean surface and generating a train of waves known as a tsunami. The waves travelled across the Pacific at the speed of a commercial jet, impacting Hawaii, Japan, and numerous other Pacific coastlines. Here in the Pacific Northwest tsunamis struck the coast in under 15 minutes, as well as travelling through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Wave energy impacted and wrapped around the San Juan islands, flooding lowlands and river mouths. As beaches and offshore deposits were flooded, the high-energy water picked up sediment, which would be deposited as the tsunamis slowed overland.
This tsunami event occurred before European settling of the Pacific Northwest; as such, accounts of the tsunami's impact on Natives exist only in oral folklore. It is not difficult however to imagine how a reoccurrence of the 1700 earthquake and tsunami might affect the many more lives on our coastlines today.
Certain government agencies, such as the USGS (US Geological Survey) and the NOAA take on the responsibility of protecting people and property from loss. Through research and analysis of tsunamis, these agencies prepare hazard management and emergency planning for population centers. In particular, the NOAA is actively developing and implementing early detection and warning systems to alert the public as quickly as possible in the event of an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
The equipment at this location is part of the early warning system operated by the NOAA. As well as collecting weather and tidal data, the tower is equipped with tsunami warning sirens. If a tsunami travels across the Pacific, the NOAA's mid-Pacific tsunami-sensitive buoys (DART buoys--Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) detect the oscillating movement of the waves. This data is transmitted to a NOAA tsunami warning center via satellite where it is analyzed for integrity and hazard severity. If it is determined that a tsunami is indeed imminent, warning systems are activated. Included in the warning systems, sirens like the one on this NOAA tower will alert people near the shorelines of danger. Additionally, a growing number of evacuation route signs in tsunami-vulnerable communities direct drivers to higher, safer ground.
To log your visit please answer the following Scenario Question and take your picture at the site:
You and your family are picnicking at Sandy Point when a 9.0 magnitude quake rocks the Pacific Northwest. Your family just survived one of the worst earthquakes this area has witnessed in three centuries. Everyone was unharmed but a little shaken by the power of the earthquake when you hear the warning sirens issuing a tsunami alert. The Cascadia Subduction has generated a tsunami that is heading your way. The epicenter where the tsunami was born is 200 miles away from where you are standing and tsunami waves are traveling at 310mph in open waters. How long would it take for the waves to reach Sandy Point?
As you leave count the number of Tsunami Evactuation Route signs you see ONLY on Sandy Point!
Take a picture using the the siren or the Fire Station as your backdrop of you and your party or of you at one of the Tsunami Evacuation Route signs and post it on the geocaching website as a part of your log entry.
Email the answers to the cache owner--please don't write the answers in your log!
You many also visit the friendly and informative staffmembers during daylight hours while the fire station office is open (M-F 8am-4pm). They have information packets to help your family plan for an Emergency.
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