COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — The 2011 tsunami that devastated coastal towns in Japan also woke up the West Coast.
On Thursday, thousands of people in the Oregon coastal communities of Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston are taking part in their first tsunami evacuation drill.
Coos Bay Fire Chief Stan Gibson says the vivid images of last year’s tsunami in Japan made people on the Oregon Coast take the possibility much more seriously than before.
Scientists say there is about a 10 percent chance this year of a mega-quake just off the Oregon Coast that could send a wall of water into low-lying areas.
Blossom Gulch Elementary School in Coos Bay is in the inundation zone, and kids there will practice taking cover under their desks, then walk in a line to higher ground.
