Critics Blast Oregon Repeal of Tsunami-Zone Building Ban

ktla ^ | , August 16, 2019,

[BenLurkin]

Experts say it’s only a matter of time before a shift in a major fault line off the Oregon coast causes a massive earthquake that generates a tsunami as much as seven stories tall.

Even as work on Oregon State University’s Marine Studies Building was underway in Newport, the Legislature went a step further and repealed a ban on construction of new “critical facilities” in tsunami inundation zones, allowing fire stations, police stations and schools to be built in the potential path of a tsunami.

Passage of the bill in June was little noticed during one of the most tumultuous legislative sessions in Oregon history. But it has since been roundly criticized — including by Gov. Kate Brown, who told journalists the bill’s passage was one of her disappointments, even though she signed the measure and previously said it benefited economic development.

Chris Goldfinger, an Oregon State University professor and an earthquake geologist, says putting the $60 million oceanography building in the path of a tsunami is “beyond ironic,” and allowing even more construction threatens lives in favor of development.

“It’s foolhardy. In every other country in the world, best practice for tsunamis is avoidance, not building in a tsunami zone,” Goldfinger said at a symposium for journalists in Newport that included a tour of the construction project.

Proponents of the university facility point out that the building will withstand strong earthquakes and be higher than the biggest tsunami. It will feature a rooftop evacuation site that can accommodate more than 900 people, accessed via an exterior ramp.

Two days of supplies, including water, food and first aid, will be kept on the roof...

[gundog]

And, here comes the water....

[Kickass Conservative]

What is their position on constructing new Buildings when there is a chance of an Asteroid hitting the Earth?

[Kickass Conservative]

Marine Studies Building in a Tsunami Zone(whatever the heck that is)?

You can’t make this stuff up.

I am 66 Years Old and I learn something new every day. In my day a Tsunami Zone was called a Beach.

[Rurudyne]

The eruption that sends volcanic ice caps and mud flows down from on high may come with a tsunami causing earthquake.

But as Carson once joked about California mudslides: all that will at least put out any forest fires.

[Vaquero]

I say let people build where they like but don’t give federal flood insurance in case it hits the fan.

I am sick and tired of hurricane season around here where people rich and poor have beach houses that I have to fund rebuilding through my taxes.

[MtnClimber]

They will blame Glowbull Warming and not BS politicians.

[Berosus]

One more reason to get out of Oregon while you can. Somebody in their state government must have thought the tsunami law discriminated against nature.

[jcon40]

In the meantime those who worry about this BS will develop hypertension, mental disorders and other afflictions that can cause death

[Tax-chick]

https://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2014/6/16/the-great-tsunami-of-1964-june-2014

The Great Tsunami of 1964 featured a 10-foot wave hitting Portand, followed by a number of smaller ones.

[Cold Heart]

“In my day a Tsunami Zone was called a beach”.
Do you live in Nebraska?

Tsunami zones go miles inland. When the tsunami hits it will destroy everything miles inland. You need to do a search for videos of the Fukishima tsunami where huge ships are sitting high and dry inland. Trucks and cars are floating between large buildings.

[reed13k]

This is almost an exact mirror of what happened in Japan. There are still signs in Japan that remain in place from prior tsunamis warning of where the high water marks were and that building should not take place lower.

After a generation or two passes people naturally start to call bullsh** and call it hearsay, legend, or wives tales.

Then they end up paying the price for ignoring history. These days they then turn around and blame the government for listening to their demands to allow building.

[minnesota_bound]

The Japanese politicians did the same thing and thousands died when the tsunami came and wiped whole towns away.

[blam]

1700 Cascadia Earthquake

Local date
January 26, 1700

Local time
21:00 local time[1]

Magnitude
8.7–9.2 Mw[2]

Epicenter
45°N 125°WCoordinates: 45°N 125°W[1]

Fault
Cascadia subduction zone

Type
Megathrust

Tsunami
Yes

The 1700 Cascadia earthquake occurred along the Cascadia subduction zone on January 26 with an estimated moment magnitude of 8.7–9.2. The megathrust earthquake involved the Juan de Fuca Plate from mid-Vancouver Island, south along the Pacific Northwest coast as far as northern California. The length of the fault rupture was about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), with an average slip of 20 meters (66 ft).

The earthquake caused a tsunami which struck the coast of Japan[3] and may also be linked to the Bonneville Slide and the Tseax Cone eruption in British Columbia.[4

(SNIP)

[Kickass Conservative]

Does anyone Posting here have a sense of humor anymore?

I don’t need an explanation of what damage a Tsunami can cause because I Posted a glib remark to make fun of these Moronic Liberals.

I know Liberals have no use for Sarcasm, but now we have to Post a Sarc Tag on Free Republic just in case?

My comment was about the idiocy of these Liberals not wanting to build anywhere near the Ocean because of the threat of a Tsunami.

It’s like Liberals with Beach Houses in Malibu who think the Oceans will rise due to Globull Warming and anyone who builds a Home anywhere in CA where Earthquakes are a normal occurrence.

[wildcard_redneck]

“Tsunami zones go miles inland. When the tsunami hits it will destroy everything miles inland. You need to do a search for videos of the Fukishima tsunami where huge ships are sitting high and dry inland. Trucks and cars are floating between large buildings.”

A building that is built right can survive a tsunami. Look below and see the lone stone mosque in a field where all lesser buildings were scrapped away by a tsunami in Indonesia?:

The building they are talking about is not some tiny house built of wood. Reinforced concrete can be used to make a building that is extremely resistant to tsunami damage.

[21twelve]

In some of the beach towns in Washington State there are a few hotels that are fairly tall. I think they have been retrofitted for a large tsunami. They can be used for “vertical evacuation”.

THE tsunami will take 20 minutes to reach some of those beaches. Trying to drive or walk out of the tsunami zone might take 40 minutes. So vertical evacuation makes sense.

I’ve seen designs for buildings where the ground floor (parking) has tear-away walls that will easily break during a tsunami so it doesn’t stress the building. The second floor has non-critical space, etc.

I’m guessing a $60 million dollar building built where it is will have this sort of stuff.

[21twelve]

Oh - that mosque? I saw a mosque in Indonesia driving by quickly. I actually mistook it for a bowling alley! Large columns holding up the roof, it was open-air with long rows of carpet for them to kneel on. Water would flow through it like under a bridge.

[Cold Heart]

I have seen, up close, the building they a constructing. It will survive.