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The Cannon Beach City Council will consider a resolution tonight to permanently close Cannon Beach Elementary due to the high likelihood that it would collapse in the event of an earthquake.

The resolution points at scientists’ predictions that an earthquake with a magnitude of between 8.7 and 9.2 on the Richter scale will likely occur along the Cascadia subduction zone within the next 50 years.

A 2007 report by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral industries found that if and when an earthquake happens, Cannon Beach Elementary would have a 鈥渉igh potential for collapse.鈥� The resolution further pointed to the fact that each of the school’s classrooms have just one exit, which upon collapsing, would block students and staff from evacuating the building.

That would 鈥渟ignificantly decrease the likelihood for survival鈥� considering that a resulting tsunami would reach the school within 15 to 30 minutes from the time of the earthquake.

If the council decides to close the school, students and staff will transfer to Seaside Heights Elementary School, which has the capacity to absorb them, according to the Seaside School District. That move would take place by the beginning of the 2012 school year.