Tierra Del Mar, Oregon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tierra del Mar
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Houses in Tierra del Mar
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 Tierra del Mar
Location in Oregon
Tierra del Mar
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Tillamook |
| Elevation | 16 ft (5 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes |
97112
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| GNIS feature ID | 1639337 |
Tierra del Mar is a small, unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. It is located right on the beautiful Oregon Coast. This community is about 25 miles (40 km) south of the city of Tillamook. It is also about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Pacific City.
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History of Tierra del Mar
The name of this community was chosen in 1935. A woman named Marie F. Pollock started selling land lots here. She named the area Tierra del Mar. This name comes from the Spanish words for "land by the sea." One of the streets in the community is even named after her.
Big Plans for an Undersea Cable
Starting in 2019, people living in Tierra del Mar began to speak out. They were against a plan by a company called Edge Cable Holdings, USA. This company is part of Facebook. Facebook wanted to bring a large undersea cable ashore in their community. This cable would stretch all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Asia. It is known as the JUPITER Cable System.
Why Facebook Wants the Cable
Facebook said Tierra del Mar was a good spot for a new part of this fiber optic cable. This cable would help connect Facebook's data center in Prineville, Oregon, more easily with countries like Japan and the Philippines. The cable would be fully owned by Facebook.
It would connect to the main JUPITER cable. That main cable comes ashore in Hermosa Beach, California. Other big companies also own parts of the JUPITER cable. These include telecommunication firms from the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan. Amazon is also a part owner.
What Happened During Construction
In 2018, Edge Cable Holdings, USA, bought a piece of land on the beach. It was about the size of 10 tennis courts. The company paid $495,000 for it. The plan was to bring the undersea cable ashore here. Then, it would connect underground to another cable in Pacific City.
On April 28, 2020, something unexpected happened. The drill being used to lay the cable hit a very hard rock. The drill bit got stuck, and the drill pipe broke. This happened 50 feet (15 meters) below the seafloor. The workers were able to get some of their equipment back. However, they had to leave the rest of it in the hole. About 1,100 feet (335 meters) of pipe, the drill head, and 6,500 US gallons (24,600 liters) of drilling fluid are still in the hole. Facebook has said they do not plan to get this equipment back.
