News - StatesmanJournal.com

News - StatesmanJournal.com: "Bad as it was, that devastation would pale in comparison to what would happen to low-lying Tillamook in a powerful offshore earthquake or tsunami, O'Neil said. 'I can't even fathom it. It would be absolute chaos. There would be nowhere to go,' she said Wednesday. Geologists say massive earthquakes and tsunamis have occurred every 300 to 500 years off the Oregon coast. The most recent one, in 1700, drowned coastal forests in Oregon, altered the coastline and sent tsunami waves across the Pacific so powerful that they destroyed Japanese fishing villages. Jay Wilson, an earthquake and tsunami specialist for the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, said the state has made significant strides in recent years in preparing for the 'big one.'"