Westminster Quarters chimes will be heard at noon Monday in Clallam and Jefferson counties during a test of the tsunami siren system.
The North Olympic Peninsula counties will join Grays Harbor and Pacific counties in testing the Washington State All Hazard Alert Broadcast Siren system.
Those who are outside and within 4,000 feet of the sirens will hear 10 seconds of chimes, followed by a voice saying the sound was only a test.
“The Tuesday earthquake with magnitude 4.8 out of Saanich, B.C., provided a stark reminder that we do live and work in earthquake country here on the Olympic Peninsula,” said Jamie Wisecup, program coordinator for the emergency management unit of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
“Individuals, families, businesses and schools are best served with following their preparation plans with actual practice,” she said.
Wisecup said the Washington State Emergency Management Map Your Neighborhood program “is based on the findings that the most lives are saved or lost in the first 90 minutes after a disaster occurs.
“If you are outside and hear the chimes, use that sound as a cue to look around your surroundings,” she said.
“Make a conscious decision to identify what pathway you would take to get to higher ground from where you are standing on the beach.
Another type of alerting technology system will follow Wednesday at noon when a notification test can be heard inside buildings on NOAA All Hazard Alert Weather radios.
This voice-only test of the NOAA alert radios will be conducted throughout the state.
In Jefferson County, sirens are at three sites in Port Townsend — the Port Townsend marina, Point Hudson and Fort Worden — and on the Hoh reservation on the West End.
In Clallam County, sirens are at Diamond Point, Dungeness Fire Station, Four Seasons Ranch, Marine Drive in Port Angeles, Lower Elwha Klallam Community Center, Clallam Bay, the Quileute A-Ka-Lat Community Center in La Push and two sites in Neah Bay.
During a real event, both the sirens and NOAA All Hazard Alert Weather radios would sound a warning message.
The testing of the sirens and radio systems is a key component of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s and Jefferson and Clallam counties’ Tsunami Ready program.
The Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management urges residents to purchase a NOAA weather radio for use in emergencies.
The department will program the radio for free.
For more information, phone the department at 360-385-9368.
For more about the Map Your Neighborhood program in Clallam County, contact the Emergency Management Unit at 360-417-2525 or 360-417-2483.
For more information, visit www.emd.wa.gov, www.clallam.net/EmergencyManagement or www.jeffcoeoc.org.
