Anita, you will be in Cascadia Subduction Zone territory, so this should be exciting.
Scientific findings of the last several years have shown that the Oregon coast is vulnerable to great (magnitude 8 to 9) earthquakes that can occur on the offshore Cascadia sudbuction zone (CSZ) fault system. CSZ earthquakes are rare events: the last great quake occurred about 300 years ago. They occur every 200 to 600 years, it is believed.
Visit the following sites on your trip through the Pacific Northwest:
1. Oregon Department of Geology & Mineral Industries
http://www.oregongeology.com/sub/ear...azardsMain.htm
2. NOAA Center for Tsunami Research (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory)
http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/
3. Humboldt State University in Arcata (CA), Department of Oceanography
http://www.humboldt.edu/~ocn/
See this list of tsunami brochures for points along the Oregon Coast:
http://www.oregongeology.com/sub/ear...ubrochures.htm