NEWPORT, Ore. — Oregon’s state geologist has urged Oregon State University not to put a marine studies building in the tsunami zone south of Newport’s Yaquina Bay Bridge — or at least to build it to withstand waves as high as 43 feet.
Vicki McConnell says the building is designed with a capacity of 500, the maximum state law allows in a tsunami zone.
The school says that fewer than 300 would actually work and study there, and students would have quarters on higher grounds — making the risk manageable.
University officials said buying land on higher ground and pumping seawater uphill for studies would be too expensive,
The Oregonian reports another option under consideration also would add cost: “blow-through” first and second stories, with higher levels as refuge for people.
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