The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Oregon Beach Weather
Today– Rain, mainly before 4pm. Snow level 3700 feet lowering to 2500 feet. Temperature falling to around 44 by 5pm. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Thursday– Rain. Snow level 2300 feet. High near 47. Breezy, with a south wind 11 to 18 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Friday– A 50 percent chance of rain before 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. Breezy, with a south wind 8 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
Saturday– Rain. High near 52. Very windy. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Sunday– Rain. Snow level 2500 feet. Cloudy, with a high near 49. Breezy.
More Than 50 Earthquakes Strike Off Oregon Coast Tuesday; No Tsunamis Expected
Dozens of earthquakes above magnitude 5.0 struck about 200-250 miles west of Newport on Tuesday and are still happening into this morning 12/8. The quakes hit roughly 200 to 250 miles off the coast of Newport.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is reporting dozens of small-to-moderate earthquakes that started yesterday (December 7, 2021) and continued through this morning, off the coast of the U.S. state of Oregon. The largest reached magnitude 5.8, according to USGS. Earthquakes in the ocean sometimes cause tsunamis. But no tsunamis were ever expected from these earthquakes, and none are expected at this writing.
The earthquakes occurred more than six miles below the surface of the water, none of them were felt on land and no tsunamis were expected, according to the National Weather Service and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
Earthquakes often happen in a series, although it’s unusual to see so many earthquakes (at least 40 by my count) as in this series. They’re of special interest because they’re happening off the coast of a heavily populated region. We often see a dozen or so foreshocks and aftershocks around a primary earthquake. The small-to-moderate quakes off the Oregon coast on December 7-8, 2021, can be considered foreshocks and aftershocks of each other. The terms are relative. It’ll be easiest to sort out which are foreshocks and which are aftershocks (and which are both) once the earthquake series has stopped.
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network tweeted that this area — the Blanco Fracture Zone — is one of the most seismically active near North America, and the high activity is not a cause for concern.
The United States Geological Service (USGS) latest earthquake map shows all earthquakes 2.5 magnitude and above over the last 24 hours.
Earthquakes are relatively common off the coast of Oregon, a reminder of the state’s close proximity to moving fault lines. The Juan de Fuca plate off the coast is building up pressure and subsiding under the North American plate and has not produced a major earthquake in more than 300 years. Scientists predict a 37% chance of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake or higher in the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the next 50 years, likely to trigger a major tsunami and potentially devastate many parts of the Northwest.
ShakeAlert, an early earthquake warning system, launched in Oregon earlier this year. The system is made up of a network of sensors that shares information about the magnitude, location and expected shaking from earthquakes on the West Coast.
The last earthquake as of this writing took place at 2:50 am this morning, December 8. It was a 5.2-magnitude quake. So it’s unknown yet how many more earthquakes might occur in the Pacific, off the Oregon coast, today.
Earthquakes happen every day. As of this writing, USGS is showing 80 earthquakes – all around the globe – over the past 24 hours. More than 40 of them happened off the coast of Oregon.
Rare sea otter that was found injured on the Oregon Coast last week has sadly passed away
The sea otter that was found injured on the Oregon Coast last week has sadly passed away, the Oregon Coast Aquarium said Monday. The otter – a rarity on the coast – was first spotted at Yaquina Head, just north of Newport.
Once word got out, crowds started gathering to watch the otter groom itself and eat purple sea urchin. Then last Thursday, the aquarium said the otter was being treated for infection and multiple wounds – likely from a shark bite – after a park ranger with the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area found him hauled ashore with limited mobility and poor fur quality.
Aquarium veterinary staff tended to the otter’s wounds, treated him for infection, and provided him with incrementally larger portions of food to combat emaciation. The aquarium said the otter was initially alert and accepting food, but his status quickly changed.
Oregon reports 945 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 31 new deaths
| There are 31 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,299. Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported 945 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 397,421. |
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (6), Benton (14), Clackamas (67), Clatsop (4), Columbia (11), Coos (48), Crook (16), Curry (4), Deschutes (52), Douglas (30), Grant (1), Harney (2), Hood River (14), Jackson (57), Jefferson (13), Josephine (30), Klamath (24), Lake (1), Lane (58), Lincoln (12), Linn (39), Malheur (5), Marion (103), Morrow (5), Multnomah (98), Polk (36), Sherman (2), Tillamook (8), Umatilla (23), Union (5), Wallow (2), Wasco (11), Washington (107) and Yamhill (37).
Trucking Industry In Oregon Struggling With Supply Chain Issues and Driver Shortage
One in 17 jobs in Oregon is related to the industry. One crucial part of the supply chain issue is trucking.
80% of the communities in Oregon are only serviced by truck, and 88% of Oregon’s manufactured goods are shipped by truck. The supply chain issues hurt more than just the trucking industry.
“There’s a real shortage of truck drivers. I’ve got 25 trucks out of my 500 truck fleet sitting for lack of drivers,” says Mike Card, President of Combined Transport. “These are $150,000 trucks with trailers that I could be hauling freight with, that I cannot.”
Industry leaders say the truck driver pool has shrunk almost 6%. But a lack of drivers is just one symptom of a bigger problem. Equipment shortages like diesel exhaust fluid sensors have contributed to the supply chain issues.
These sensors control the truck, so if you don’t have DEF it shuts the truck off. When the sensors go bad, it causes a lot a problems when you can’t replace them.
“We had a driver, we had a truck, but we couldn’t roll because there were no DEF sensors available,” Card says. “We tried to get them to give us software so we could run our trucks without sensors, but it was a mess and we lost many minutes.”
Congestion is also a factor. The I-5 bridge and the Rose Quarter choke points are in the top 30 bottlenecks in the country.
Card says legislation like lowering the minimum age for drivers, can help. You have to be 21 or older to be a truck driver. So the trucking industry can’t recruit younger workers. Nationally, the average age of a truck driver is 46.
Local workforce boards are another way they’re trying to fix the issues. The Oregon Trucking Association is working to get more people on the workforce boards to make people aware of the issues and recruit more workers.
Oregon Electric Vehicle Infrastructure To Get $52M
The state is set to receive $52 million of additional funding over the next five years for EV charging infrastructure.
The money is part of the $1.2 billion in additional transportation funding from the recently passed federal infrastructure package.
The federal government makes the initial decisions on how that $52 million can be spent. ODOT should receive the first set of federal guidelines in February 2022.
Suzanne Carlson, ODOT Climate Office director, says her office expects the federal guidelines will steer the funding to Alternative Fuel Corridors, which are national highways that are eligible for federal grant funding to add public EV charging and other alternative fuel infrastructure.
The program is overseen by the Federal Highway Administration. Oregon has seven corridors designated under the program: Intestates 5, 84 and 82, and U.S. 26, 101, 20 and 97.
Partnerships
Forming public-private partnerships to award the funding may be a key component, based on past rounds of federal funding.
ODOT already has experience here. Earlier this year, ODOT invested $4.1 million to support EV Charging Solutions’ upgrades to Oregon’s slice of the West Coast Electric Highway.
The agency also partnered with local firms Forth, Kittelson & Associates, and Rocky Mountain Institute to complete a future electrification needs study in 2020-21, which examined Oregon’s EV charging needs over the next 15 years.
Jeff Allen, Forth’s executive director, is optimistic about Oregon’s EV future.
“Oregon’s early leadership and hard work means we are extremely well-positioned to make good use of this federal funding to build out a charging network that will make it easy for Oregonians to drive electric wherever they go across the state,” said Allen.
New EV registrations in 2021 are on track to increase by about 70 percent compared to 2020.
It’s a similar story with electric bicycles: the New York Times reported national e-bike sales jumped 145 percent from 2019 to 2020.
That increased adoption rate coincides with results from ODOT’s future electrification needs study, which presents a clear roadmap for ODOT and partners to follow to electrify the system for multiple types of vehicles.
“With the study’s findings, we can be more strategic and keep up momentum on EV adoption rates,” said Carlson. “Our role will be to make targeted state investments, secure more federal grant funding, and make sure public EV charging is equitable and practical.”
Transportation electrification is high on the agency’s list of strategic priority outcomes, and is a key component in state government’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
About 40% of the state’s total GHG emissions come from the transportation sector, including freight and aviation.
“Moving quickly to electrify transportation is just one piece of Oregon’s emission reduction plan,” said Carlson. “Together with other ongoing investments in bike and pedestrian programs, public transit, and climate resiliency, we’ll be able to make strong progress on our work to address climate change in Oregon.”
ODOT has released an infographic and recorded a webinar that describes what Oregon expects to receive from the federal funding package in more detail. Those materials can be found here: https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Pages/IIJA.aspx
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