Welcome to the Oregon Hazards Lab
Using Science, Technology, and Community Engagement to Understand, Detect, and Mitigate Multi-Hazards within the Pacific Northwest
223+
Seismic Monitoring Stations
63+
Wildfire Detection Cameras
$22M+
Funding Since 2020
2018
Year OHAZ Was Founded
28
OHAZ Staff
8
Student Researchers
The Oregon Hazards Lab is a research lab within the University of Oregon's Department of Earth Sciences. We currently partner in these efforts:
Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
Along with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington, we monitor ground motion to better understand earthquake and volcano hazards and their impacts on communities in Oregon and Washington.
ShakeAlert® Earthquake Early Warning System
Since 2014, the Oregon Hazards Lab has been an instrumental partner in building and promoting the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake early warning system.
Wildfire Detection Cameras
With hundreds of mountaintop cameras installed throughout the western United States, this high-speed wildfire detection network provides firefighters and first responders a new way to spot and track wildfires.
Wildfire Smoke Sensors
As part of a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, we deployed 30 smoke sensors across Western Oregon in 2023 and tested their effectiveness at detecting emerging wildfires.
Sage Continuum
We are building a continent-spanning network of smart sensors to improve the flow of information between scientists and the natural world.
Willamette Watershed Project
The Oregon Hazards Lab is developing resilient communications infrastructure for the Santiam, Sisters, and McKenzie River corridors that will support a natural disaster monitoring and alerting network.
News from the Oregon Hazards Lab
Oregon Marks Three Years Since the Launch of ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System
If a major earthquake were to strike today, do you have a plan? If you have your phone set up to receive ShakeAlert warnings, you might just have an few extra moments to put that plan into action before the ground starts to move. The ShakeAlert system went live in Oregon on March 11, 2021, a decade after a devastating quake rocked Japan.
Oregon Hazards Lab Newsletter – February 2024
In latest edition of our quarterly newsletter, we share the new platform for our wildfire cameras, the expansion of OHAZ.net, and the integration of geodetic data into the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System. Email ohaz@uoregon.edu to subscribe.
Oregon Hazards Lab Using HazardMon to Protect Natural Hazard Monitoring Systems
The Oregon Hazards Lab is collaborating with the Oregon Networking Research Group to improve the resilience of its natural disaster monitoring and alerting systems. Known as HazardMon, this new framework will help us identify and respond to threats to our network, from cyberattacks to earthquakes that knock out internet.