News Release
| Release Number: | 01-021 |
| Dated: | 2/28/2001 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.-- Despite the recent shaking, no earthquake damage has been reported at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' dams throughout Oregon, according to emergency management specialists with the Corps.
The Corps' Portland District operates 19 dams in Oregon: along the Columbia River, in the Willamette Valley and in the Rogue River Basin. Immediately following the earthquake this morning, operations managers on site at each of the dams inspected them and found no damages.
"We're far enough away from the epicenter that we didn't get strong enough ground motions to cause damage," said Carolyn Flaherty, dam safety expert with the Corps. In addition, she said the dams are built to withstand motion caused by earthquakes.
Nationwide, the Corps is actively reevaluating its dams' seismic capability and performing improvements where needed. Since the early 1980s, the Corps' Portland District has been performing seismic evaluations as part of its dam safety program.