Student course dives into the causes of tsunamis

Children learn to spot warning signs, build evacuation towers

By Ray Pitz

The Beaverton Valley Times, Aug 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jonathan House / The Beaverton Valley Times

STANDING STRONG – Wayna Jerry watches as a teammate tests their model evacuation tower built during the Tsunami Coastal Challenge, a weeklong camp.

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While the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that triggered numerous tsunamis and killed more than 225,000 people is known to many students, the events that led up to that tragic event aren’t as well known.

But that won’t be true for the 17 students attending this week’s Tsunami Coastal Challenge, a weeklong camp put on by the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction at Oregon Health and Science University’s Walker Road campus.

The course is being sponsored by Saturday Academy.

On Monday, Alicia Lyman-Holt of Oregon State University’s Wave Lab Research Facility, gave students a primer on the ins and outs of tsunamis, followed by some hands-on experiences.

“What these students are building are coastal evacuation towers,” said Lyman-Holt as students used pre-packaged, small pieces of wood to create the types of structures they believed would withstand an actual tsunami.

Lyman-Holt said construction of the towers is a good way to get young people thinking about careers in engineering, proving to them that science and math are not boring subjects.

Although no such towers currently exist, they might someday.

“It’s a (potential) solution for the Oregon Coast,” said Lyman-Holt. “Japan has these towers.”

What is currently a reality, Lyman-Holt explained, is the threat of a future earthquake, followed by huge waves that would wipe out Oregon coastal communities.

That earthquake, which could be anywhere from 9.0 to 9.5 on the Richter Scale, would be followed 20 to 30 minutes later by a devastating tsunami. Such a catastrophic event happens once every 300 to 500 years, said Lyman-Holt.

“This is a very dynamic hands-on (activity),” she said as students used double-sided tape to attach their towers together.

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