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Tsunami Evacuation & Map Resources

Tsunami Evacuation Maps and Brochures

NVS Tsunami Evacuation Zone website & app

Those who live on the Long Beach Peninsula can now more easily find their evacuation route thanks to the NVS Tsunami Evacuation Zone website and its related smart phone app.

Routing is available for the entire Long Beach peninsula including Cape Disappointment and Ilwaco, thanks to the completion of the state’s first pilot project in southwest Washington. This is a service that has been in Oregon for a while now. It is not yet available elsewhere on the coast.

Now, when you visit NVS Tsunami Evacuation Zone website on your web browser you can add place markers for your home, work, school or other frequently visited locations and get turn by turn directions to the nearest identified high ground following the road and trail network. Additionally, the website will provide a recommended evacuation time and evacuation pace in order to make it to high ground before the first tsunami waves are estimated to arrive (see image below). Use these custom maps to practice walking your evacuation routes so you know where to go when the time comes.

Screenshot from the NVS Tsunami Evacuation Zone website showing how to make a custom map to high ground from a chosen location.


While the NVS mobile app does not provide the routing feature at this time, it is still one of the best free tsunami alerting apps on the market. Download the app onto your Apple or Android device to enable tsunami alert push notifications and gain quick access to local evacuation maps.

Download the NVS Tsunami Evacuation App

Apple software button
The button shows the Google icon and says get it on Google Play


This project was made possible due to the collaborative efforts of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), and the Washington Department of Natural Resources - Washington Geological Survey (WADNR-WGS).

Limitations: Routing presently only works in the web platform of NVS and not the NVS app available in either Android or Apple stores. Routing is presently limited to the Long Beach peninsula, Ilwaco and Cape Disappointment. Routing for additional areas may be added at a later date. Routing is limited to established roads and trails. These may not represent the most direct path to high ground or may become blocked by post-earthquake hazards. Please exercise situational awareness when evacuating or practicing evacuation to ensure personal safety.

Tsunami Pedestrian Evacuation Walk Maps

Tsunami evacuation walk time maps show a more detailed view of the time it would take to evacuate on foot from the tsunami inundation zone. The maps also show how long it is estimated to take for the first tsunami wave to arrive. You should use these maps to learn your routes ahead of time for home, work, and school.

If your area doesn't have an official evacuation map available, contact your local emergency management for advice on the best routes to use. In an actual tsunami event, head inland to the highest ground you can find. More maps are being worked on and will be released in the future as they are completed.

Mobile friendly files: 

    Full Resolution Files (ZIP files may not be mobile friendly): 

    Tsunami Evacuation Brochures

    Tsunami evacuation brochures are single sheets providing general information about tsunami evacuation. They show tsunami inundation extent, evacuation routes, and points of interest. They also contain basic in=formation about tsunami evacuation and preparedness, and local emergency management contacts. Some brochures are tabloid-size (11 x 17 in.). The "upside down" orientation of part of the second page is because they were designed to be folded in half and then in thirds. They can be printed on letter-size paper by telling your printer to shrink to fit or scale to 50 percent. All maps are PDFs.

    NOTE: These brochures have NOT been updated as new or updated modeling and mapping have been published, nor has the contact information included in them been updated. More accurate maps may have been released since the publishing of these brochures. When using, please be sure to compare the publish date of the brochure with the publish date of other inundation and evacuation maps for the same location. If you have questions about the potential differences, please contact WA DNR.

    • Clallam County
      • Clallam Bay and Vicinity (2012) in English
      • Neah Bay and Vicinity (2012) in English
        Partially superseded by Neah Bay (2024) walk map
        Partially superseded by Tsoo-Yess River Valley (2024) walk map
      • Port Angeles and Vicinity (2012) in English
        Partially superseded by Port Angeles (2019) walk map
        Partially superseded by Lower Elwha Klallam (2024) walk map
      • Sequim and Vicinity (2007) in English
        Partially superseded by Dungeness (2024) walk map
    • Grays Harbor County
      • Amanda Park (Quinault Indian Nation) in English
      • Ocean Shores and Vicinity (2014) in English & Spanish
        Partially superseded by Southern WA Coast (2018) inundation map
      • Westport, Grayland, and Ocosta (2014) in English & Spanish
        Partially superseded by Westport (2019) walk map
    • Whatcom County
      • Birch Bay and Blaine (2014) in English
      • Lummi Reservation (2007) in English
      • Point Roberts (2007) in English

    Tsunami Inundation and Current Velocity Maps

    The Washington Department of Natural Resources in partnership with Washington Emergency Management Division, uses tsunami modeling to produce inundation and current velocity maps of the Washington coastline. These inundation models are based on the shape of the ocean floor, the topography of the land, and the expected size and shape of tsunami waves. These properties are derived from what we know about past earthquakes and tsunamis that are found in the geologic record of the Pacific Northwest. The result of the modeling is a series of maps that show the expected depth of water and the speed of the currents from an earthquake-generated tsunami.

    Seattle Fault Inundation Maps (Mobile friendly JPGs)

    These are all ZIP files and NOT mobile friendly. These are very large maps and work best on a desktop computer.

    Seattle Fault:

    Cascadia Fault:

    Tacoma Fault:

    Tsunami Evacuation Route Wayfinding

    All 3,000+ miles of Washington’s shoreline are at risk of tsunamis, which require people to quickly evacuate out of the inundation zone before waves arrive. Tsunami wayfinding signs play a vital role in helping people become better aware when they are in a tsunami inundation zone and to clearly identify evacuation routes so they can reach high ground. Tsunami signage must be sufficient to guide someone from their location in the inundation zone to safe high ground — a route that may extend a mile or more, with many twists and turns which can confuse someone who is unfamiliar with the area. Over the last several decades, Washington’s coastal communities have worked hard to distribute tsunami signage along the 1,050 miles of mapped evacuation routes to high ground. These efforts are ongoing, and major gaps remain due to lack of capacity and funding. 

    To support communities in these efforts, Washington Emergency Management Division has developed the WA State Tsunami Wayfinding Guide. Whether you are starting from scratch with no tsunami signs in your jurisdiction or have some signs and want to know where your current gaps are before you install more, this document will help you approach tsunami wayfinding with a clear, actionable plan. There are five types of official tsunami signs currently in use across Washington state:

    • Tsunami Evacuation Route: A round white and blue sign with a series of waves in the background and the words “Tsunami Evacuation Route” stretched across the bottom half of the sign. This sign indicates an official tsunami evacuation route that leads either to the closest high ground or inland out of the inundation zone. 
    • Rectangular Arrow (not shown above): A small, rectangular blue sign with a white arrow that pairs with the Tsunami Evacuation Route sign to provide directionality out of the inundation zone. These signs can face right, left, straight up, or at an angle depending on the position of the evacuation route and location of the sign.
    • Tsunami Hazard Zone Sign: A large, rectangular blue sign with the text “Tsunami Hazard Zone” printed across the top, a series of waves with a person running to high ground, and text along the bottom that reads “In case of earthquake, go to high ground or inland”. This sign is used in public areas to provide awareness that people are located within the tsunami inundation zone.
    • Assembly Area Sign: A small, white rectangular sign with a group of people on top of a hill above a series of waves. The bottom of the sign has blue text that reads “Assembly Area”. These signs are used to identify tsunami assembly areas, central meeting points outside of the inundation zone where evacuees may gather following a tsunami.
    • Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone: A large, hexagonal sign with an orange background and black trim. Printed across the top half of the sign in blue and black text is “Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone”. Below the text is a series of blue waves and a small black hill. This sign is intended to notify the public that they are entering into the tsunami inundation zone. 
    • Leaving Tsunami Hazard Zone: A large, hexagonal sign with a white background and black trim. Printed across the top half of the sign in blue and black text is “Leaving Tsunami Hazard Zone”. Below the text is a series of blue waves and a small black hill. This sign is intended to notify the public that they are leaving the tsunami inundation zone.

    WA State Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) Tsunami Loss Estimate Study

    Overview and Key Findings

    Washington state faces one of the highest tsunami risks in the nation. Over 175,000+ residents and visitors are located within Washington’s tsunami inundation zone at any given time, along with key military, transportation and economic infrastructure. Decision makers require an accurate understanding of Washington’s tsunami risk to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to and recover from a Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) tsunami to save lives and protect property and the environment.

    To address this need, Washington state completed its most accurate tsunami risk assessment to date using FEMA’s Hazus software, which provided accurate building loss and casualty estimates within Washington’s mapped tsunami inundation zone for a M9.0 CSZ scenario. This loss estimate concluded that a M9.0 CSZ tsunami could cause an estimated 50,000–65,000+ casualties within the first hour — and that’s just from the tsunami alone. This represents an estimated 29–37% of the total at-risk population in Washington, not including daytime visitors.

    These results can now be used to support statewide tsunami evacuation funding and planning efforts, as well as to standardize and coordinate mitigation and response planning. Ongoing tsunami education, mitigation, and response planning efforts at all levels of government and across all sectors are vital to reducing this risk. Lives and property can be saved if communities come together to address vulnerabilities, provide education and training and increase resiliency.

    Casualty and Building Loss Estimate Deliverables and Resources

    Deliverables and resources produced as part of WA State CSZ Tsunami Loss Estimate Study include:

    Study Methodology

    FEMA’s Hazus program provides standardized tools and data for estimating risk from earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and hurricanes. Hazus combines expertise from many disciplines to create actionable risk information that increases community resilience. The Washington Emergency Management Division used the most up-to-date and best available science and technology to generate building loss and casualty estimates for a maximum-considered M9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake and tsunami scenario using the Hazus tsunami and earthquake modules.

    Due to funding limitations, the CSZ loss estimates only included Washington’s mapped tsunami inundation zone. Casualty and building loss estimates therefore only represent estimated impacts to people and buildings within a county’s inundation zone and do not represent impacts to the entire county. Casualty estimates include injuries and fatalities associated with the tsunami alone; earthquake-related injuries and fatalities and impacts from other secondary hazards are not included in the county or statewide casualty numbers. Building loss estimates include damage caused by both the CSZ earthquake and tsunami within the mapped tsunami inundation zone.

    Previous casualty estimates for the CSZ tsunami hazard focused solely on permanent residents, excluding temporary populations such as visitors and employees. They also relied on outdated census and building data and were developed before FEMA’s Hazus tsunami module existed — resulting in significant underestimation of potential casualties. This underestimation is especially critical during peak tourist seasons or major events (such as Fourth of July weekend), when transient populations can surge by hundreds of thousands.

    Washington state’s updated approach improves accuracy by:

    • Using 2020 Census data to estimate permanent population.
    • Updating building data within the tsunami inundation zone, correcting approximately 30% of structures that were previously missing or inaccurately classified.
    • Incorporating building square footage to better estimate population distribution compared to traditional headcounts.
    • Estimating temporary populations, including 24/7 employees and visitors assumed to fully occupy lodging facilities (such as hotels, RV parks).

    The scenario modeled is a 2 a.m., mid-summer event, assuming most individuals are in bed—located in buildings, campgrounds, RVs, or marinas—providing a realistic picture of population at risk at the onset of the incident.

    Washington’s casualty estimates are based on how many people are likely to reach high ground before the arrival of the first tsunami wave. This includes consideration of the nearest high ground location, evacuation routes, potential bridge failures, and the distance and time required to reach safety on foot — using the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pedestrian Evacuation Analysis tool.

    The analysis assumes individuals know where the closest, most accessible high ground is and will use the most efficient route, even if that route lacks lighting, signage, or a clear path and may involve navigating dense foliage or steep slopes.

    Evacuation departure times modeled are 10, 15 and 20 minutes after the onset of earthquake shaking, including approximately 3 to 6 minutes of ground shaking. People are expected to take first take protective action by dropping, covering, and holding on and then as soon as they are able, evacuating to high ground. Evacuation would begin only after the shaking ceases enough for people to safely get going, making the 15 and 20 minute departure times more realistic for visitors.

    Next Steps for Individuals

    There is much an individual can do to reduce their tsunami risk. This includes taking actions like signing up for emergency alerts; packing an emergency go-bag and making an emergency plan with loved ones; identifying and practicing your tsunami evacuation routes; and taking part in community evacuation drills. Learn more below:

    Next Steps for Communities

    There are many actions communities can take to reduce their tsunami risk. This includes: building vertical evacuation structures; installing tsunami signage and hardening evacuation routes; conducting mitigation and response planning; and educating community members about their hazard and risk. Learn more below:

    • Build Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Structures (VES): Tsunami vertical evacuation structures (VES) are the proven solution to save lives during catastrophic tsunamis. VES offer elevated, life-saving refuge from tsunami waves where natural high ground is too far or inaccessible. To learn if your community needs a VES, check out the VES assessments completed for Pacific, Grays Harbor, and Clallam Counties.
    • Install tsunami signage: Tsunami signs help the public become better aware when they are in a tsunami hazard zone and to clearly identify evacuation routes so they can reach safe high ground before tsunami waves arrive. Utilize the Washington State Tsunami Wayfinding Guide to help you determine where to install new signs and other wayfinding resources.
    • Identify and harden tsunami evacuation routes: The goal of tsunami evacuation routes is to get people to safety in an efficient and effective manner. Route hardening and regular maintenance ensures evacuation routes are accessible even after several minutes of severe ground shaking. Utilize the Washington State Tsunami Wayfinding to help you determine locations along your evacuation routes that may require additional hardening or other maintenance.
    • Complete pedestrian evacuation maps: Tsunami evacuation maps assist coastal residents and visitors in finding high ground in case of a tsunami. Look for published evacuation maps on our website. Coordinate with Washington Emergency Management Division and the Washington Geological Survey to identify evacuation routes and design maps for your community.
    • Complete Tsunami Maritime Response and Mitigation Strategies: Ports and marinas face increased risk from tsunamis. Tsunami Maritime Response and Mitigation Strategies help maritime communities evaluate their tsunami risk, improve their tsunami response, and identify projects to mitigate the impacts of tsunamis. View previously completed strategies.
    • Conduct tsunami response planning: Participate in local, state, tribal, and federal tsunami exercises to test alerting and response procedures. Exercises are a great way to train staff and volunteers, as well as to identify areas of improvement. The Washington Emergency Management Division’s Planning Program offers assistance in planning initiatives; visit here for planning resources and to learn more.
    • Conduct tsunami-focused outreach and education: Outreach and education in at-risk communities is vital to ensure people understand their tsunami risk and are ready to take protective actions. This includes temporary populations such as employees, tourists, seasonal workers and the military. Visit here for tsunami education resources, including materials available for download.
    • Full school tsunami evacuation exercise participation: All Washington public schools located in mapped tsunami inundation zones are required to complete one tsunami evacuation drill each year. School participation in the Great Washington ShakeOut is a great way for schools to meet these requirements. Find many drill resources for schools.

    Washington State Geologic Information Portal

    Looking for local materials and want an interactive experience? Try the Geologic Information Portal at www.dnr.wa.gov/geologyportal

    A screenshot from the WA DNR online geoportal showing different geologic features across Washington State.

    The Washington Geologic Information Portal puts complex geologic and hazards information into the hands of everyone, including you. This application allows you to quickly compare and synthesize data of different types to help solve a variety of problems. You can learn more about the portal via this brochure (PDF) or check out the single-topic tsunami map.

    Connect With Us

    BlueSky: @emd.wa.gov

    X/Twitter: @waEMD

    Facebook: WashEMD

    Nextdoor

    Email: public.education@mil.wa.gov

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