Welcome to the Oregon Hazards Lab
Using Science, Technology, and Community Engagement to Understand, Detect, and Mitigate Multi-Hazards within the Pacific Northwest
Support the Oregon Hazards Lab!
The Oregon State Legislature is considering a bill that would provide state funding to our program. This bill would help OHAZ continue monitoring natural disasters and delivering life-saving alerts to Oregonians.
223+
PNSN Seismic Monitoring Stations Across Oregon
63+
OHAZ Wildfire Detection Cameras Across Oregon
4.2Mil
Oregonians With Access to ShakeAlert EEW Alerts
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.
News from the Oregon Hazards Lab
Earthquake Early Warning is Now Available in Canada
Earthquakes threaten the safety of people and infrastructure across geopolitical boundaries. For this reason, collaboration is key to safety in Canada and the United States, particularly in border areas. The U.S. Geological Survey and Natural Resources Canada have collaborated to share science, algorithms, real-time data, and public safety information between the nation’s distinct earthquake early warning systems.
Oregon Hazards Lab Newsletter – August 2024
The quarterly OHAZ newsletter provides updates about new wildfire camera deployments, the buildout of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and improvements to the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System.
Interoperable Wildfire Detection Camera Network Expanding in Hawaii
Thanks to a new partnership with ALERTWest, Hawaiian Electric has begun deploying a network of wildfire cameras across the five islands served by the company. Camera footage will be visible at alertwest.live, alongside those operated by the Oregon Hazards Lab and other universities. This is the largest publicly available and interoperable wildfire detection system in the United States.