The research and experiences of three Japanese disaster recovery researchers from Japan will be the topic at a tsunami planning presentation Monday, 6 p.m. at the Ocosta Elementary School.
These experts from Tokyo Metropolitan University and Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, will share what they learned about pre-disaster planning and post-disaster recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake — also known as the Tohoku earthquake — of 2011. That event featured a 9.0-plus-magnitude earthquake 80 miles off the east coast of Japan near Sendai, which shook for 6 minutes and produced a tsunami that reached heights of more than 130 feet, killing nearly 16,000 people.
This is the first of a series of Coastal Resilience programs supported by a partnershp between the City of Westport and the University of Washington, said UW research coordinator Kiana Ballo. The forum will begin with brief presentations and end with a question and answer period.
The partnership between the city and university will provide insight into how the City of Westport can plan and design for a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, which would hammer the coast of Washington with a tsunami that could last for more than a day and reach heights of 80 feet and more, similar to the Tohoku earthquake of 2011.
The Ocosta school is located at 2480 S. Montesano St. in Westport.
