The odds of a major earthquake striking Oregon in the next fifty years are roughly one in three [1]. Are you prepared?

An earthquake is a sudden, rapid shaking of the ground caused by the movement of the earth’s crust or volcanic action. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, 50 miles from our coast line, puts Oregon at risk of experiencing a magnitude 9.0 earthquake [2]. Prepare yourself and your loved ones by completing the following steps*:

Check out our collaboratively published Disaster Preparedness Series with the Corvallis Gazette-Times HERE

1. Build a basic emergency supply kit for your home following FEMA’s recommendations of what to pack.

 

2. Practice what to do in the event of an earthquake with the members of your household. This includes understanding the following:

  • If you are in a vehicle, pull over and stop. Set your parking brake.
  • If you are in bed, turn face down and cover your head and neck with a pillow. 
  • If you are outdoors, stay outdoors away from buildings.
  • Do not get in a doorway. Find heavy furniture and drop, cover, and hold on. 
  • Do not run outside.
  • Once you are safe, listen to local news reports for emergency information and instructions via battery-operated radio, TV, social media, or from cell phone text alerts.
    • NOAA Weather Radio All Hazard stations for Oregon can be found here.
    • Emergency radio stations for Oregon are listed below:
      • Ashland - 1700 kHz
      • Baker County - 530 kHz 
      • Beaverton - 1620 kHz
      • Estacada - 1680 kHz 
      • Gresham - 1610 kHz 
      • Happy Valley - 1700 kHz 
      • Port of Portland International Airport - 530 kHz
      • Sandy - 1660 kHz 
      • Umatilla Weapons Depot at Hermiston - 1600 kHz
      • United States Coast Guard - 1610 kHz
  • These recommendations are from FEMA. For more information, click here. 

 

3. Read and understand your community's emergency plans. Benton County’s emergency plan can be found here. 

 

4. Make an emergency plan for your own household. The best way to do this is to attend a community seminar (stay tuned for OSU EERI hosted workshops!), become a trained Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member, or contact your local Emergency Service Planner officers from Benton County or the City of Corvallis. 

 

5. Prepare your home for an earthquake by following these guides:

 

* More of a visual person? FEMA has you covered. See their flyer on how to prepare for an earthquake here. 

 

References

[1] Goldfinger, C., et al. (2012). Turbidite Event History—Methods and Implications for Holocene Paleoseismicity of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

[2] Schelling, J., et al. (2013). Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquakes: A Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake Scenario, Cascadia Region Earthquake Working Group.