This story was originally published in the 2024 edition of Discovery magazine, the College of Science's publication. This edition of Discovery celebrated the 20th anniversary of the College of Science.
For 50 years, the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) has served as a statewide public service unit while embedded as a research division within the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering. This dual role enables the NSL to provide critical monitoring of fire and earthquake activity throughout Nevada and simultaneously train new generations in earthquake science and instrumentation (skills vital for natural hazards mitigation across the country).
The lab maintains a 186-seismic station network, which covers Nevada and the eastern Sierra, as well as 105 streaming fire watch cameras in Nevada, California and Idaho. Only Alaska and California have more natural earthquakes than Nevada, and the seismic station network is critical to providing Earthquake Early Warning services to the west coast. Christie Rowe, who began her role as director of the NSL in July, hopes Earthquake Early Warning will roll out across Nevada in the coming years.
A decade ago, taking advantage of the private telecommunications network built for the seismic stations, the NSL established ALERTWildfire. ALERTWildfire is a network of high-definition cameras used to spot wildfires and provide situational awareness to fire personnel and the public. The cameras are installed on top of mountains where they provide a 360-degree view of the landscape around them, making it possible to spot fires in remote locations.
The Nevada fire cameras are now displayed on the ALERTWest website and integrated with camera systems from other sources, improving access across state lines for fire management agencies. In addition, ALERTWest runs an artificial intelligence algorithm that monitors the images around the clock, allowing for continuous "eyes" on the landscape and alerts to be issued to fire management personnel. The cameras are available to anybody who wants to access them and support fire spotting efforts at .
"It’s removed barriers for first responders to access live footage of wildfires, providing improved situational awareness for wildland fires," William Savran, the NSL network manager, said.
More closely aligned with its original mission, the NSL promotes the Great ShakeOut, an international earthquake preparedness drill that takes place in October every year. Emergency preparedness professionals use the Great ShakeOut to run response scenarios, while families, schools and community groups can sign up to practice "drop, cover and hold on" with kids and adults, as well as refresh their earthquake supply kits.
"Nevada is lucky to have a lot of 'fun-sized' earthquakes, to help remind people to stay prepared without causing damage," Rowe said. "Hopefully this will contribute to minimizing the impact of larger earthquakes when they occur."
One of those "fun-sized" quakes, with a magnitude of 3.6, struck in northeast Sparks on October 18, 2023, just one day before the Great Nevada Shakeout on the 19th at 10:19 a.m. The quake served as a great reminder that Nevada is seismically active and to prepare for future earthquakes by practicing drills and securing items around the home and workplace.
Savran and network seismologist Kyren Bogolub put their knowledge and communication skills to use, serving as trusted sources for several local journalists reporting on the series of earthquakes that took place around Reno and Sparks early in 2024. Nearly 300 earthquakes shook south Reno between January and March, prompting the NSL to designate the events as an earthquake swarm.
The unique structure of the NSL allows network seismologists to work closely with academic faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering to train students to become future seismologists. Faculty and research students are making significant strides in understanding earthquakes and their hazards using patterns of Nevada earthquakes in time and space, the subsurface structure of Nevada’s faults and evidence of prehistoric shaking preserved by balanced rocks and scars on the landscape.
Recently, another group has become interested in integrating with the camera systems: the Tahoe Environmental Observation Network, or TEON. TEON is a new initiative based in the Global Water Center that will utilize remote sensing equipment placed on NSL’s broadband telecommunications network to monitor conditions around the Lake Tahoe basin.
"Our monitoring network is surprisingly powerful, and we are expanding the potential for more scientific measurements across Nevada and the Sierra Nevada," Rowe said. "The integration of our research program with the network means we have great potential for innovation and contributing to a more resilient society."
