| Earthquakes and other natural hazards in the Pacific Northwest |
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| NetQuakes volunteers needed |
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November 17, 2011 — The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is looking for citizen volunteers to host Netquakes strong motion seismometers in the home or small business.
Learn more about volunteering.
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| Coos County Flood and Natural Hazards Web Tool |
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 The Coos County Flood and Natural Hazards Web Tool is an interactive map that shows which parts of Coos County are subject to various natural hazards. Overlays that show flood, tsunami, earthquake, river channel migration, and landslide hazards can be selected and viewed down to the tax lot level. Hazard overlays are draped on a detailed base map made from high-quality lidar elevation data acquired by aerial survey in 2008.
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| Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness |
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Earthquakes and tsunamis have caused damage and loss of life in the past and will again in our future. Having an emergency kit and an emergency plan are important first steps in being prepared. Learn more from these links.
More Earthquake and Natural Hazards Information
– Excerpted from a November 1999 article in Oregon Geology by Elizabeth L. Orr and William N. Orr, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene
Oregon is known for its wonderful diversity of natural landscapes including deserts, deep river canyons, high snow-covered mountains, flat well-watered fertile valleys, and a coastline with quiet coves and dramatic headlands. Unavoidably, however, the breathtaking scenery goes hand in hand with geologic processes that can be responsible for recurring and destructive hazards.
In the Pacific Northwest, natural geologic catastrophes may be placed into five categories: floods, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. All five of these catastrophes have occurred in Oregon within the past century. Quite often the effect of two or more events occurring simultaneously greatly accentuates the destructiveness of the episode. Floods are nearly always accompanied by landslides, mudflows are often a significant part of volcanic activity, and a major quake following a flood results in a multitude of large and small landslides. Earthquakes in coastal areas frequently precede tsunamis.
The long view of geology recognizes that most geologic processes shaping the topography are remarkably slow and that all of these features can be explained by ongoing natural events. Oregon‘s landscape is being continuously shaped by crustal plate movement, heavy winter rainfall, and ocean storms.
Are hazardous geologic occurrences increasing in frequency? There is a tendency to suggest that this is the case. In a headlong rush for news items, the media will often pump up any event to catastrophic levels— even when no deaths and only minimal property damage have occurred. Additionally, the wonder of modern communication is such that news stories are pulled in from remote corners of the globe, while 50 years ago they would have been missed or rated only a line in a newspaper.
On the other hand, it is true that the increase in population and the dispersal of populations into some areas previously considered marginal or unsafe dictate that more of these natural disasters will be witnessed than before.
Humans themselves often aggravate disastrous situations by placing themselves in harm’s way, and activities such as redirecting rivers, over-steepening slopes, or clear-cutting may create problems. Moreover, development of dwellings and highways is so widespread and growing that natural disasters are much more likely to impact mankind and cause loss of life and property than at any time in the past.
Reduce the risk from natural hazards - a resource guide
Oregon Emergency Management
The Natural Hazards Program from the Department of Land Conservation
Learn more about the geologic forces that cause natural hazards from the series "Savage Earth" from PBS Online
Learn about Senate Bill 13 - Earthquake preparedness drills
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