EDMONDS– Residents and visitors of Edmonds may hear the wailing sound of a tsunami siren at 10:16 a.m. tomorrow morning, October 16, but don’t be alarmed: it’s just a test.
Tomorrow morning’s siren testing falls on this year’s Great Washington ShakeOut event, where Washingtonians (and millions more around the world) practice earthquake drills at work, school, or home.
Emergency Management encourages everyone to remember these three words in the event of an earthquake: “Drop, cover, and hold.”
But the annual ShakeOut event is not reserved for earthquake drill protocol. It also applies to tsunami evacuation for coastal, and waterfront, cities like Edmonds.
Tomorrow morning, at approximately 10:16 a.m., the city’s tsunami sirens can be heard emanating from West Dayton Street and Railroad Avenue. There will be a message confirming the alarm is just a test.
If you would like to hear how it will sound ahead of time, listen here.
There are also signs along the waterfront indicating tsunami hazard zones and evacuation routes. These signs are designed to help people find higher ground. The evacuation route leads pedestrians away from the waterfront by way of Admiral Way, Railroad Avenue, or Sunset Avenue to follow Dayton Street or Main Street east to higher ground. Inundation models for Edmonds indicate areas east of Third Avenue are out of the tsunami zone.
The Tsunami Zone on Washington earthquakes and Tsunamis
The Tsunami Zone had the following to say about earthquakes and tsunamis in Washington State:
“Washington is earthquake and tsunami country. Washington’s outer and inner coasts are highly vulnerable to tsunamis thanks to the presence of numerous crustal faults and the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) offshore. The CSZ has been responsible for 19 earthquakes of magnitude 9+ in the last 10,000 years.”
“Evidence of the most recent Cascadia earthquake and tsunami to hit Washington’s shores in 1700 remains in the form of ghost forests, tsunami sand deposits, and the oral traditions of Native Americans. This tsunami also travelled across the Pacific Ocean to hit the shores of Japan where it was known as the “Orphan Tsunami” until evidence linked it back to the Cascadia earthquake.”
“With over 3,000 miles of coastline, 58 coastal communities, significant harbor and coastal infrastructure, and a large at-risk population, Washington continues to make tsunami hazard reduction a high emergency management priority. The Washington State Tsunami Program empowers individuals and communities to make the informed risk management decisions necessary for adapting to, withstanding, and quickly recovering from tsunami hazard incidents. It supports local jurisdictions in this effort by promoting tsunami planning, educating coastal residents and visitors about tsunami dangers, ensuring functionality of onshore communications infrastructure, and developing mitigation strategies, as well as continuing to collaborate with other states and federal partners in pursuit of these objectives.”
Author: Kienan Briscoe
