When's a Tsunami Coming to Florence?

Lots of people who are interested in owning a home in Florence ask me about tsunamis and the tsunami zone. The Cascadia subduction zone is a fault that stretches from northern Vancouver to northern California. Recent findings concluded the Cascadia subduction zone was more hazardous than previously suggested. The feared next major earthquake has some geologists predicting a 10 to 14% probability that the Cascadia Subduction will rupture in the next 50 years, producing an event of magnitude 9 or higher. The tsunami produced may reach heights of approximately 100 ft. The last known great earthquake in the northwest was in January of 1700. The Great Alaska earthquake of 1964 was the most powerful recorded earthquake in US history, a magnitude 9.2. The resulting tsunami affected Florence as well. Water was pushed up the Siuslaw River until it ran out of steam where the river widens out at the North Fork of the Siuslaw, not far from Florence. Geological evidence indicates that great earthquakes may have occurred at least seven times in the last 3,500 years, suggesting a return time of 300 to 600 years. There is also evidence of accompanying tsunamis with every earthquake. The City of Florence has addressed the question of tsunamis head on. Follow this link for more information, including a tsunami map: http://www.ci.florence.or.us/default.cfm. Click on the link on the left, Emergency Preparedness.