How would you handle a Tsunami?

If a Tsunami were to happen off our coast on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, we'd only have 20-30 minutes warning, which is not enough time for any warnings to get out in a meaningful way.

Also the last Tsunamis happened over 300 years ago off our coast, although there was one in the 60's up in Alaska.  Crunch the math and you'll see that the possibility of it happening in the 8 hours that I might be on the  water on a given day fishing, and you'll see that the chances are so small that to me it is not worth worrying about.

I worry most about weather changing and getting caught in a bad situation.  Careful planning and paying attention to what is going on around you can mitigate this.

-Allen

I only worry about if i'm gonna be chumming or not 

Also the last Tsunamis happened over 300 years ago off our coast, although there was one in the 60's up in Alaska.

While technically not the Pacific Northwest, Crescent City, CA is pretty close and was hit by that Alaskan Tsunami in 1964.  They also felt a minor surge do to an earthquake in the Western Pacific in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City,_California

I only worry about if i'm gonna be chumming or not 

Nice!   

In all honesty, I sure hope I don't get sick out there, as I totally lose my motivation for fishing when I get all green.  No chunky breakfasts for me before going in the salt.

PolePole, good enough reason to me.  I'll still have my VHF radio on regardless, listening for weather or sea swell changes that may affect me.  If I gets a warning for a tsunami, I'm heading for Japan. 

 

Also the last Tsunamis happened over 300 years ago off our coast, although there was one in the 60's up in Alaska.

While technically not the Pacific Northwest, Crescent City, CA is pretty close and was hit by that Alaskan Tsunami in 1964.  They also felt a minor surge do to an earthquake in the Western Pacific in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City,_California

Sure ... but the math still holds.  44 years times 365 days times 24 hours = 385440 hours.  8 hours divided by 385440 yields 0.0021% chance of getting caught in the past 44 years.  I know the statistics are not that straightforward, but you get the picture.  Nope, I don't worry about it.  There have been more shark attacks on the west coast than there have been kayak drowning attributed to tsunamis.  And I don't worry about shark attacks either.

-Allen

In all honesty, I sure hope I don't get sick out there, as I totally lose my motivation for fishing when I get all green.  No chunky breakfasts for me before going in the salt.

I hear ya, I've never actually puked and as long as i'm catching fish, that makes me forget about feeling green for the most part, but if the fishing sucks and i feel sick i just leave.

Sure ... but the math still holds.

Oh I'm with you on this one.  I'm much more worried about generic sneaker waves.  Besides, if I worried about such things I probably shouldn't live so close to a volcano.

Brian

My house is actually right on the edge of the tsunami zone on our local tsunami hazard map. I worry about tsunami's more when i'm at home then in the water

Also the last Tsunamis happened over 300 years ago off our coast, although there was one in the 60's up in Alaska.

While technically not the Pacific Northwest, Crescent City, CA is pretty close and was hit by that Alaskan Tsunami in 1964.  They also felt a minor surge do to an earthquake in the Western Pacific in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City,_California

 Been there...done that! '64 wiped CC off the map! And Bsteves, we are in the Pac-Nor (just ask a San Franciscan)
 The tsunami in '06 hit CC and produced a slightly higher than 3' wave which entered into the Bay and Port area. many 60' or better commercial Boats were washed up on the parking lot and a million$ + damage to the Port itself. Brookings got a mild 4" wave from the same quake.
 it happens

Sure ... but the math still holds.

Oh I'm with you on this one.  I'm much more worried about generic sneaker waves.  Besides, if I worried about such things I probably shouldn't live so close to a volcano.

Brian

I watched St. Helens erupt back in 1980, they gave everyone LOTs of warning that it was going to pop, and that was with late 70's technology. 

Now sneaker waves are also on my mind while on the beach, and will be as well when I start yaking in the ocean.

I'm more worried about the outrageously loud "This is only a test!"  blaring from the tsunami warning speakers and waking me up from a nap during their testing, than anything else. Freakin speaker is only about 100 yards away. At least I'm not the poor fool who lives right underneath the damn thing! That sucker is loud! 

There won't be much time to get to high ground. Was joking about keeping my old canoe, with some emergency gear and rations moored to the chimney on my garage roof, as I'm less than 1/4 mile from the beach, as the gull flies, but that would be absurd.  I'm usually not worried about highly unlikely occurrences, but getting hit head on by a drunk crossing the center line, or ripped off by tweakers while I'm parked on a logging spur....those things sometimes worry me.

I watched St. Helens erupt back in 1980, they gave everyone LOTs of warning that it was going to pop, and that was with late 70's technology. 

Was on our  sailboat on the Puget Sound when the sky went dark and it started raining ash from St. Helens. We had to put shirts over our mouths to breath without choking, It was crazy, i have a couple small jars of the ash to this day...

I was working in Thailand as a journalist in 2004. I spoke with a Thai ship captain who was taking divers out when the Asian tsunami hit. When the announcement came over his radio, the tourists nearly mutinied, trying to get him to head into port. He stayed at sea, and they didn't even feel the tsunami pass.

Then he stayed out for five more hours until all the waves had passed. (There are almost always more than one - the Asian tsunami had three big ones in Phuket, each almost an hour apart).

have experienced 3 earthquakes, one while at sea that clobbered Iran, and two tornadoes, and a cyclone that inundated Haiti with so much rain we spent a week digging out of the mudslides and debris just so we could go to work helping the locals clean up....have no desire to experience a tsunami first hand.

living where i do now, i'm much more concerned about Lahar than anything else,

If it's a big one, pretty much kiss your ass goodbye. I doubt you could do anything about an imminent one. Like others have said, that's waaaaaaaay down on the list of things to worry about.

Z