Warning Signal in Lincoln City, Oregon - Outdoor Warning Sirens on Waymarking.com

The actual threat of a tsunami hitting the Oregon coast is pretty darn remote! You have a much, much, much greater chance of experiencing a tornado in the midwest, a hurricane in the southeast, or a forest fire in the west . . . rather than a tsunami along the west coast.

Nonetheless, in the interest of protecting citizens, the state government has required that since 2005, all towns along the Oregon coast have a tsunami warning system in place. This system had consisted of a variety of warning sirens and sounds that may have been different in each town. The one that most people are aware of was the "mooing cow" in Cannon Beach!

As of Sept 1, 2010, thanks to the standard established by the Oregon Emergency Management, all towns must transition to a uniform signal that provides consistency. The siren will be an up-and-down wail lasting three minutes.

All towns along the coast will be required to test the siren on the first Wednesday of every month at 11:00 am.

Many towns test their sirens at other times as well. There is always a loudspeaker announcement that these are only tests, so if you hear a siren, listen closely to determine whether or not it is an actual emergency. Many coastal hotels state the time of the local siren testing in either the lobby or with the guest information in each room.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/23/2014 new1* visited it