SALEM - Oregon's coastal emergency managers are not prepared to deal with a major tsunami, authorities said at a conference in Salem this week.

And should the Oregon Coast be hit by the kind of tsunami that washed over Southeast Asia just after Christmas, there may be little that coastal residents can do but save themselves.

Ostensibly, the purpose of the conference, attended by city officials, fire chiefs, hospital managers and representatives of state agencies, was to figure out what officials need to ask for from state and federal lawmakers.

But in a magnitude 9 quake, it's clear that even the best-laid plans would be crippled, since such a temblor and resulting tsunami could completely disable fire districts, hospitals, police stations, roads and bridges from Astoria to Brookings.

One reality did emerge from the conference: Creating a "culture of awareness" among residents, tourists and business owners along the coast is the highest priority.

"We need tsunami champions in each town: people to head up door-to-door outreach, business outreach, workshops, school curriculum, city-wide drills," said George Priest, a geologist with the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

Still, emergency officials said they were worried about their ability to respond to those affected by a tsunami. They don't have the staff, the resources, the equipment or the plans to overcome buckled roads and downed bridges.

Much of the relief will have to come from the outside, they said, so it's important to let people in the rest of the state know that a coastal tsunami isn't just a coastal problem.

"We're at the end of the road," said Jay Raskin, a city councilor in Cannon Beach. "Reconstruction will basically start in the valley and then get out to us."

Among the suggestions for how to be better prepared:

- Having warning sirens triggered by a magnitude 7 or greater earthquake.

- Asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a specific plan in response to a Cascadia subduction zone quake and tsunami.

- Supersizing the tsunami inundation and evacuation maps into large posters that can be placed in key locations along the coast.

- Recruiting volunteers to travel door to door with information about what to do in the event of a prolonged earthquake and tsunami.

These suggestions, among others, will be presented to legislators and congressional representatives at a "Tsunami Summit," to be held sometime in April.

The Oregon Coastal Zone Management Agency, which organized the workshop, also will present a summary of this week's findings to lawmakers immediately, in the hope of getting funds to implement some of the ideas

There isn't much time to impact the federal budget, Priest warned, as members of Congress finalize their federal budget proposals this week.

And conference participants warned that the public's attention on tsunamis which peaked after the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean disaster won't last forever.