TACOMA, Wash. - Parts of the Tacoma are vulnerable to inundation from tsunami waves, according to a new set of maps.
The maps were issued by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Not surprisingly, the most vulnerable areas are the largely industrial Tacoma tide flats, which include the Port of Tacoma, rail yardsand numerous other businesses.
The water in these areas could become as deep as 6 feet. In some small areas depths could reach 16 feet, according to the DNR's Tim Walsh, who helped prepare the map.
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The vast majority of residential Tacoma sits well above the reaches of any tsunami wave, but residential neighborhoods in Fife could see depths of up to about a foot and a half.
One problem is there will be little time to get out of the way - anywhere from 20 minutes at the most, to as little as five minutes. This is one of the big worries for Pierce County Emergency Management Chief Steve Bailey, who says he will meet in just a few days with the Port of Tacoma todiscuss plans to put up warning sirens, which are likely to be followed by signs to get people to higher ground.
Pierce County already faces threats from an eruption at Mt. Rainier, as well as seasonal winter flooding on the county's major rivers.
Of the three primaryearthquake scenarios studied, it would be a magnitude 7.3 quake on the Seattle fault that would do the most damage, finds Walsh.The Tacoma fault is closer, but would displace less water than the increasingly worrisome Seattle fault.
But while such an earthquake could strike any time, we may grow old and gray waiting for it. The last time a tsunami came through the area was about 1,000 years ago. But seismologists say this will happen again. It's just a matter of when.
A tsunami generated off the Washington coast or further away in the Pacific Ocean is not expected to generate a tsunami deep into Puget Sound.
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