What's the ONE THING You Can Do To Survive a Tsunami? Cascadia Subduction Zone

I have friends and relatives in a part of Thailand that was struck by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. The advice they gave me: make sure you and your loved ones have agreed on a place to meet up when the shaking stops. The top of a hill, for example. The idea is that rather than running around town trying to find each other, everyone runs to the hill and you meet up there. It greatly increases everyone's chances of survival. The only scary part is that you have to trust everyone to stick to the plan and get there (in time). The locals there remind each other every single day at breakfast: "If there's an earthquake, I'll see you at the top of the hill." It may seem excessive, but it's a small thing and it could save you and your loved ones.

practicing is great, but i think people dont realize that if a real tsunami threat hits the west coast, everyone will hit the road with their cars, and since the US is car-centric, huge chance everyone will be stuck in traffic trying to evacuate. practice alternate path to safety rather than using the main roads.

Lahaina traffic jams prevented evacuation from the wildfire. A lot of these cities on the coast have the same, one road in, one road out set up.

5:15 The records of the Orphan Tsunami is actually how we Americans have the specific date. As a resident of the PacNW, it is AMAZING to comb through Native American stories and find oral-history-records of earthquakes, landslides, etc that have actually occurred. Hope everyone is getting a disaster kit started!

I am in Canada and we are in total denial about this. Zero prep for this major danger and no conversation. But I really appreciate your excellent video and helping to spread awareness. Thank you!

"Ignorance is bliss, but is it best?" Thanks for that.

Omg I had no idea they had vertical evacuation centers that's absolutely amazing to me come on we need more of those in every single coastal town

after the lessons learnt from the 2004 and 2011 tsunamis I hope everyone in the Pacific Northwest takes this video to heart. I'm from Thailand, and remember the 2004 tsunami very well. We had no idea what was happening. When the water receded people were walking down to check out the exposed coral reefs. We've come a long way since then.

Being 12 hours from the ocean is the one thing I can do

I was in Singapore that Boxing Day almost 20 years ago. So many aid agencies were redeployed to Aceh in the days and weeks afterward. I went a couple of months later to help clean wells. I'll always take the danger of tsunamis seriously.

I have family in Florence, Oregon. You scrape your foot on the ground hard enough and ocean water starts to bubble up. When Cascadia goes off, the coastline will drop apprx 13ft due to soil liquefaction.....you add a 50ft or higher wall of water.....If you live in these areas, figure out the highest point, if there is one!

As someone who's moving to Newport (the place in this video with the big beautiful bridge and apparently a VERTICAL EVACUATION STRUCTURE!) the "ignorance is bliss" part of me didn't want to watch this, but the "better to be safe than sorry" part of me required me to watch this. Glad I did!

I live in Vancouver, WA outside of Portland. We moved here over 10 years ago, and we just learned about the Cascadia earthquake about 6 months ago. I've been a "prepper" all my life and our property is almost completely self-sustaining. I made emergency plans for so many different scenarios for when it happens, and many of them ended in a high likelihood that we would die, especially if my wife is at work in Portland where her job is in an unreinforced masonry building. We have our house up for sale now and we're moving out of the PNW. We have loved it here so much and we're so sad to leave, but our kids are only toddlers and we don't want to create a life for them here where their friends and loved ones are likely to either die or become refugees within their lifetime. If WA and OR were taking more steps to prepare, we'd probably do the same and try to reduce our risk. However, with me being a WA state worker for the last 8 years, I can assure you that next to nothing is being done and I have very serious doubts that sufficient preparations will even be discussed in the next 10-20 years. The devastation that this event is capable of is inescapable and overwhelming. Water lines will rupture, sewer lines will rupture, gas lines will rupture, power lines will collapse, data lines will be broken, many of the major roads will become impassable, and even the Columbia river is likely to be blocked from debris. Emergency service buildings are almost all predicted to collapse along with almost every hospital. For the first month at least, aid will mainly be limited to airdrops, which is a logistical nightmare considering the extreme scale of the impact zone, even with the entire US air fleet. We have an on-site open well, a backup 5,000-gallon tank, and enough filtration medium and sanitizing chemicals to treat 10,000 gallons, but who knows if my tank if going to rupture or if my well walls will collapse. Even as prepared as I am, we are not equipped to survive in a primitive landscape for 1-3 months until the bare minimum supply lines are established, and that's presuming that all my resources survive the quake and nothing is destroyed by falling trees. And all of this is before you consider the economic impact. We would both be out of our jobs and our house is likely to be destroyed. Even if we saved enough capital to purchase the building materials to rebuild, the materials are likely to be unavailable for months or even years following that massive effort to rebuild in the aftermath. It's not reasonable to stockpile a whole house worth of building materials... we have to leave. Please, if you're in the area and you have the bandwidth to run for a legislative seat, do it, and change the course that we're on.

No place is safe. I live on the edge of the Great Plains, in Arkansas, where tornados start flexing. With a daughter living on the wrond side of Lake Michigan, where it gets -35° with a wind to match. Or my oldest daughter who lives on the Gulf Coast and has tropical storms regularly. Love, live, and try your best; it's all you can do.

I used to live in the PNW and being a bit of a natural disaster/geology nerd, I had read all the books on the possible dangers of the region. I sincerely hope that many many decades go by before a serious event, but I'm also glad to not need to worry about it. Instead, I can enjoy the slow motion disaster of the megadrought in the southwest!

In the US some emergency alerts notify every phone in the area, but many/most require signing up. Every second can make a difference. Please sign up for any alerts available in your area.

I live in Cannon Beach, Oregon. The complacency is shocking. There seems to be a very strong [insert fingers in ears] la la la la la inertia to do nothing to prepare ... while at the same time deluding themselves that they are prepared. (It's actually a fascinating phenomenon.)

Tsunami warning with earthquake: "When it's long or strong, get gone."

Even with this video, I'm not quite sure that many of those in the comments here truly understand the "magnitude" of a rupture along the full length of the Cascadia Subduction Zone from Vancouver Island all the way south to Northern California...that's ~600 miles. Even if it's just a partial rupture along the Southern section, it will be massively destructive. Either type of quake would be at least 8.1 to 9.5, so even locations and infrastructure several hundreds of miles away may be SERIOUSLY affected, especially anywhere along the coast where there are NW-facing beaches and ports that the Tsunami will easily reach. I'm not trying to fear monger, but if you look at the facts and data that is readily available (read the studies & watch YouTube videos by Brian Atwater, Chris Goldfinger, and their contemporaries), this event will truly be catastrophic across a wide area. The last time that this major event happened in 1700, there were only small villages and populations of indigenous people scattered along the coastlines and coastal river valleys. There was no widespread infrastructure to destroy like there is today, only their rudimentary shelters and villages. The Great Tohoku Earthquake in Japan in 2011 was a 9.1. Take a look at the 100s of videos of the Widespread Destruction that the Tsunami caused, let alone the earthquake itself...which was much farther offshore compared to what the Cascadia fault rupture will be. The "Orphan Tsunami" in Japan that resulted from the January 26th, 1700 Cascadia Earthquake produced 16ft waves along Japan's coastline after having traveled several thousand miles across the Pacific. Many died as a result... 16 foot high waves might not seem very big or destructive, but Tsunami waves are much different from standard wind-born waves that reach our coastlines. Tsunami waves have a MUCH larger volume of water BEHIND them that continue to push the waves inland once the front of the waves reach and crash on the shore, and the water/sea level keeps stacking up and rising with each successive wave, making each wave reach a higher total altitude while it surges inland. This event will NOT be limited to a "localized area". The resources that are available and which will be desparately needed will need to be spread out among a huge distance and area...i.e. we can't possibly get to ALL of the affected areas immediately...potentially 600+ miles of coastline...and not even to all of the major areas effectively. Many local families and neighbors will most likely be on their own for weeks. It will take A LOT of TIME to organize the resources and such a wide scale relief effort! Good luck with your "immediate airdrops"! A few limited areas might receive some, but it's not like the entire Naval Fleet, Coast Guard, and National Guard will show up the next day. Access to the coast will be limited to relatively short range helicopters and drones as there will be very few usable runways for traditional aircraft, and nearby refueling facilities will be devastated...again, from Vancouver Island all the way to Northern CA. When and if any helicopters or ships/boats do arrive, they will need refueling to make a return trip, but there will most likely be very little fuel available. Most of the larger fuel facilities and distribution are located in or near the ports where they will be devastated by either the earthquake or this tsunami. It will take weeks at best for a large fuel tanker ship to arrive. Our best bet is if there are any large cruise ships returning from Alaska, or one which could be rerouted that could help in regards to supplying essentials or accommodations...but they would be in serious danger as well (see below). And again, were are talking about needing to reach hundreds of communities along hundreds of miles of coastline! A few ships and even 50 helicopters will be inundated and most likely severely inadequate for this task. Roads and highways will be destroyed due to fracturing, liquefaction, or landslides. HWY 1 will be TOAST...it was built in great haste for military/missile defense access for the West Coast during WW2, and very little has been done since then to fortify and improve it. As we've seen in the recent past, just a moderate earthquake or a heavy rain event can cause local landslides on HWY 1 which will deem it impassible for weeks or months. And historically, there is some evidence that a large rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone fault may also trigger the San Andreas Fault, especially if it's on the Southern section of the Cascadia fault. :-O This could potentially mean that the majority of the West Coast of America will be majorly affected...power/communications/roads/bridges/airports/runways/ports/shipping/infrastructure/fuel/fresh water/food supplies, etc. Regarding the idea of building underground long-term emergency food cellars and water storage in the nearby foothills or mountains, this size of earthquake will most likely destroy them or at least cause any access or entry doors to be fouled and stuck... Take a look at the photos of the degree of ground movement/upheaval/subduction and the open crevasses/ruptures in the great Alaska earthquake of 1964 which was much smaller than the Cascadia earthquakes will be... Entire houses and buildings were tossed around like toys with one being raised 20+ feet & at a 45° angle, while the one that was formerly on level ground next to it is sitting almost completely obscured in a deep crater/crevasse and at an opposite angle! Underground storage will probably not be safe unless it is quite far away, and getting to those locations that might have survived will most likely be a challenge in itself. In addition, we must remember that this will NOT be just One Event and then suddenly be "All Quiet on the Western Front" again! There will be Continuous and VERY LARGE AFTERSHOCKS for days, weeks, months, and years afterward, making any rescue or relief operations extremely difficult, and likely very risky. Any attempts at road, bridge, runway, rail, or any type of major or minor infrastructure repair may be destroyed again at any moment due to a large aftershock. Ships or boats that are anchored along the coast or in a port might still be in danger of another earthquake/tsunami event. In the long history of earthquakes & tsunamis along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, several of the larger magnitude 9+ earthquakes were followed very shortly by magnitude 8+ earthquakes at other points along the fault. In addition, several of these Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes have resulted in significant Volcanic Eruptions within the PNW arc range, so it's possible that the next "big one" may be a "Triple Whammy" event...Earthquake/Tsunami/Volcanic Eruption. The chances are rare, but cannot be ruled out. :-( It was only 1980 when Mount St. Helens last blew her top (or side), and that was with no additional help from any such Subduction Zone Earthquake "trigger" event. (The PNW Volcanic Arc mountain range is a direct result of Subduction of the Pacific/Juan de Fuca tectonic plates under the North American plate.) The January 26, 1700 Cascadia Earthquake & Tsunami occurred 324 years ago now, and these major 8+ to 9+ magnitude Cascadia Earthquake/Tsunami events are known to repeatedly occur every ~180 to 1,000 years, with the Average being well on the shorter end of that timeline...every 250-300 years. So as the video alluded to, it's not IF, but WHEN. Also consider that nearly all major earthquakes result in devastating FIRES, just like the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and the 2011 Tohoku Japan Quake. Some of the debris from destroyed homes & buildings that were washed away in the tsunami kept burning for weeks while they were still floating on the water in Japan. Compound this with oil and fuel spills/slicks from ships, boats, vehicles, and the massive fuel tanks & depots in the ports that will be compromised by the quake and/or tsunami with the potential to catch fire. And there will most likely be little if any fresh water available to fight these fires. The nearby accessible sea water will be filled with ALL sorts of large and small debris, as well as oil & gas, making it nearly impossible to be pumped and used for this purpose. The real problem is that we haven't experienced an event like this in our Modern Age, so we simply cannot fathom or.comprehend this type or level of event happening on this large and wide of a scale. But the data 100% proves that these types of events are real and that they happen on a regular, known timeline. I urge everyone to spend just one evening watching a collection of both the personal & news agency YouTube videos and documentaries from the Great Alaska Earthquake, but especially the videos from the 2011 Great Tohoku Japan Earthquake and Tsunami event. You will get a revealing glimpse of the true destruction and danger that most likely awaits us. While watching those videos, also keep in mind that Japan is one of THE most well-prepared nations in the world in regards to their infrastructure and knowledge/experience with earthquakes. Many of the ports had significantly high tsunami sea walls protecting them. But as with the Cascadia Subduction Zone events, during the earthquake the land along the coast subsided by several meters, making the sea walls much less effective. As this video noted, the infrastructure and communities of the PNW are NOT anywhere near as prepared as Japan was and is. It's only been in the last ~15 or so years at best that the PNW has even begun to take this seriously.

If you haven't heard of him, Nick Zentner has some amazing lectures on PNW geology, and he's great to listen to!