A New York Times article (picked up by the Seattle Times) with an Ocean Shores dateline discusses proposed “vertical evacuation” buildings, at coastal schools and elsewhere. But, according to the report:
“Perhaps nowhere is more vulnerable than Ocean Shores, a community of 6,700 residents, with thousands more who visit in the summer to enjoy the miles of pristine beach next to thundering waves. The town has little elevation, and the tsunami that could accompany a 9.0 rupture would wash over all of it.
“People could try driving out, but officials expect roads to be buckled and sunken, or covered in power lines, trees and debris. The expected subduction would cause the entire area to abruptly sink up to 7 feet; the shaking could cause liquefaction of sandy soils before the tsunami reached shore.
“People could try running to high ground outside of town, but Ocean Shores sits on a 6-mile-long peninsula. Those who live toward the southern end would be about 8 miles away from high ground. Depending on their location, residents might have only 10 minutes before the wave started washing over them.
“‘In 10 minutes, there’s not that much time to go very far,’ Allen (Corina Allen, chief hazards geologist in Washington) said.
“The best option may be to get on a rooftop or to climb a tree. But many of the region’s buildings were not constructed to withstand such a quake, let alone a tsunami, which would be hurtling cars and logs and other debris.”
It‘s a chilling scenario…though it doesn’t mention the aging population of O.S., nor the scenario of a tsunami washing over the city during a packed summer weekend.
The North Beach News 
Maybe we should be looking at relocating the entire town
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B.S. we have cities that are below sea lvl fear mongering is all this is. I would be more worried about a asteroid or those killer hornets.
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The NY Times article pretty much tells it like it is, in the event of a large near-shore quake very few people will get to safety. The construction of “tsunami towers” is mostly a multi-million dollar exercise in “feel good”. You won’t be able to get there from here. Climbing trees and getting on roofs ensures a split second faster look at doom, assuming you don’t break your neck in a fall. All of this “tower-talk” comes from 2 basic sources; politicians trying to convince people that they will save you (I alone can fix it), and scientific research types looking to continue grant-funded employment. NO buildings in Ocean Shores were, or are, built to withstand a tidal wave caused by a 9.0 event. There are very serious questions as to whether our pure sand soil could even support such a structure as has and is being proposed, last time I checked concrete doesn’t float. That is the reality of living here; if it bothers you that bad you need to move to higher ground. Surely there must be somewhere on earth that is immune to weather or human disasters! If you leave now the traffic will be lighter and the roads still usable. Slightly tongue in cheek!. However, as the comedian said, seriously, folks, there is no way to protect the people of O/S from a tidal wave of the referenced magnitude. Finally, why do we now call a tidal wave a tsunami, does that somehow make it nicer or more politically correct? Seems like that happened about the same time as all the hoopla started about spending billions to study and build for something that was always there, it doesn’t take much college to figure out that a community whose roads were intentionally built at 14′ above sea level would be about 46′ below sea level in the event of a 60′ wave. Even the new math could get you there.
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good comments and the truth, we are just wasting money. If they want to do anything is add more lanes on 109
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