From the desk of Sheriff John Ward,
On Tuesday, July 29th, 2025, a series of very significant earthquakes occurred off the eastern seaboard of Russia causing damage to that area and triggering a potential tsunami for the Pacific Ocean. The National Weather Service and the National Tsunami Warning Center issued a Tsunami Warning for portions of the Alaska coast and eventually Hawaii.
A Tsunami Watch was initially ordered for portions of the US Pacific coastline, including the Southern Oregon and Northern California coast. Curry County Fire and Public Safety agencies were notified and placed on standby for the potential incident.
A short while later, The National Tsunami Warning Center developed additional risk information
and upgraded the Tsunami Watch to a Tsunami Advisory for the Oregon Coastline. The Curry County Sheriff’s office broadcast an Everbridge Notification Message to notify citizens of the Tsunami Watch and again when it was upgraded to an Advisory.
Based on the complete information from the National Weather Service and the National Tsunami Warning Center, no evacuations were ordered. Any potential Tsunami wave activity was determined to arrive first at Port Orford at about 11:40pm with other areas being affected a few minutes later. Citizens were asked to stay off the beaches and estuaries and warned about additional hazardous conditions in the county’s ports.
Public Safety agencies patrolled into low lying areas and warned citizens directly of the hazards. The Northern California coast was upgraded to a Tsunami Warning, but that warning did not extend into Oregon.
As of 10:45am Wednesday morning, July 30th, no damage or injuries have been reported because of the reported incident. A Tsunami Advisory remained in effect for the Curry County coastline into early Wednesday evening as potentially hazardous waves remained a possibility, and citizens were urged to exercise caution and avoid beaches and estuaries.
