The Pacific Northwest is a seismically active region. Learn more about the earthquake risk from Oregon Emergency Management. You can reduce your risk of injury from an earthquake by taking preparedness action, and by knowing how to respond during and after an earthquake.
Are you ready to Drop, Cover and Hold On?
Before: Prepare and Mitigate
Earthquake preparedness is a shared responsibility. We encourage everyone to take this moment to take proactive steps to ensure the safety of our community at work and at home. Get informed, make a plan, build a kit, and build community.
Get Informed
- Familiarize yourself with space you frequently occupy including: safe locations to drop, cover, and hold on and how to evacuate safely
- Watch the above video to learn what to do during an earthquake.
- Educate yourself, family, and co-workers
Get Prepared
For more information on earthquake preparedness, how to make a plan, building an emergency preparedness kit, or finding training opportunities, visit PSU's Emergency Management site.
Mitigation Actions Everyone Can Take
Take Non-Structural Mitigation Steps at Home and in your Office. Start by conducting a “nonstructural” assessment of your spaces at PSU. Identify primary and secondary evacuation routes, relocate heavy items to lower shelves, and secure large furniture to walls to ensure clear paths and reduce injury risks during an earthquake.
During:
IF YOU ARE INDOORS:
- Drop to the ground so you do not fall
- Take cover under sturdy furniture, protect your head and neck.
- Hold on to the furniture so you stay covered
- Evacuate the building after the shaking stops. Use the stairs, do not try to use the elevators
- Be aware:
- Fire alarms and sprinkler systems frequently go off in buildings during an earthquake, even if there is no fire
- Aftershocks are likely to occur, move away from buildings to avoid falling debris
IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS:
- Stay outside
- Move to an open area, avoid areas with overhead objects (e.g. trees, buildings, utility poles, etc.)
- Be aware that glass, brick facades, and other debris will likely shed from buildings and fall onto sidewalks
IF YOU ARE IN A CAR:
- Pull to the side of the road as quickly as possible
- Attempt to keep away from overhead hazards such as trees and signs
- Remain in your vehicle until shaking stops
After the Earthquake:
- Monitor local news reports for emergency information and instructions
- If you are in a damaged building and there is a safe way out through the debris, leave and go to an open space outside
- Do not reenter buildings until declared safe by emergency authorities.
- Be careful during post-disaster cleanup of buildings and around debris. Do not attempt to remove heavy debris by yourself and wear protective clothing
- Aftershocks are likely to occur, move away from buildings to avoid falling debris
- Earthquakes trigger additional hazards such as landslides, liquefaction, and fire. Stay away from these hazards as much as possible
- Check yourself for injuries and get first aid, if necessary, before helping injured or trapped persons
More Information:
Oregon lies at a convergent continental boundary where two tectonic plates are colliding. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is actually a 600 mile long earthquake fault stretching from offshore northern California to southern British Columbia.
This fault builds up stress for hundreds of years as the Juan de Fuca and North America Plates push against each other. Eventually, the two plates rip apart, creating some of the largest earthquakes and tsunamis on earth. Where the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate and the North American continental plate meet is called a subduction zone, because the denser Juan de Fuca Plate is being pulled under North America. The Juan de Fuca Plate is moving to the northeast at about an inch a year as the North American Plate moves west. The Oregon coastline is actually bulging upward from the two plates pushing against each other.
There are more than 1000 earthquakes over magnitude 1.0 in Washington and Oregon every year, with at least two dozen being large enough to be felt. Approximately 17 people have lost their lives due to earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest.
Since 1872, there have been 20 damaging earthquakes in Washington and Oregon. The Pacific coast poses special risk from tsunamis associated with a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. In addition to Subduction zone earthquakes, Oregon is also susceptible to crustal earthquakes. The two largest earthquakes in recent years in Oregon, Scotts Mills, (magnitude 5.6) and the Klamath Falls, main shocks (magnitude 5.9 and magnitude 6.0) of 1993 were crustal earthquakes.
Read more at the Oregon Emergency Management Earthquake Hazards page.
Points of Contact
Call or text: 911
PSU Emergency: 503-725-5911
PSU Non-Emergency: 503-725-4407