Note: Many people have been having problems viewing results on the site. OSU says the site is having difficulties and they are working to solve the problem. OSU Vice President for University Relations and Marketing released the following statement on June 2:
"On the evening of June 1, the Oregon Hazard Explorer for Lifeline Program -- O-HELP -- website received over 24,000 requests for location-based seismic hazard reports. Unfortunately, this volume of heavy traffic significantly slowed the file server hosting data for the site. Oregon State University regrets and apologizes for this problem. On Thursday, June 2, Oregon State added more resources to the file server in order to improve the website's performance. Since then, the site seems to be working well, and it has generated numerous reports for viewers. Oregon State will continue to monitor the performance of the site so as to best accommodate future increases in traffic."
ORIGINAL STORY:
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Oregon State University has released an online tool to help people assess the earthquake risk at their own address.
A massive Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake is expected in the Pacific Northwest’s future. A major earthquake could cause a tsunami, landslides, and shake buildings across the state.
Widespread destruction is expected, but the dangers are different depending on where you live.
“It’s this old stuff we built before we knew there was an earthquake hazard," said Dean of Engineering Scott Ashford. “It is not designed for the amount of shaking we are anticipating.”
He said the quake will be felt across the west. Homes on the coast will be the most devastated, but buildings in Portland will be in danger of damage and toppling from soil giving way.
“I think central Oregon there will still be some damage, but that will be the heart of the response for western Oregon,” said Ashford.