Winning datasets feature multidisciplinary hurricane data, 2025 Los Angeles wildfire data, and Cascadia subduction zone earthquake scenarios

The NHERI DesignSafe team is pleased to congratulate the winners of the 6th annual DesignSafe Dataset Awards, recognizing outstanding datasets published in the Data Depot in 2025. The award-winning datasets include two reconnaissance datasets associated with significant hurricanes and wildfires from 2024 and 2025, as well as a simulation dataset associated with regional ground motion simulations in the Pacific Northwest.

“The recognized reconnaissance datasets represent the efforts of large field teams, and for years to come, the data will be studied to understand the significant impacts of these events,” noted Ellen Rathje, principal investigator for DesignSafe. “The ground motion simulation dataset represents the best-estimate of ground shaking from a large subduction event in the Pacific Northwest, and these data will be important for designing structures in Seattle and other cities in the region. DesignSafe is honored to facilitate the public access of these important datasets.”

The authors provided unique, clear, and well-curated data with strong potential for re-use. We encourage everyone to access the project links below and explore these outstanding examples of natural hazards scholarship.

The Dataset Award winners will present their work in a DesignSafe webinar. In addition, the research will be featured in DesignSafe news articles broadcast to the NHERI community and the general public. Information about the annual DesignSafe Dataset awards, including previous winners, is available here.

Dataset PRJ-5667

NEER/GEER: Hurricanes Helene & Milton Dataset

(Image: Nina Stark, Michael Gardner)

In the fall of 2024, central Florida was hit by Hurricane Helene on September 27 (Category 4), and less than two weeks later by Hurricane Milton (Category 3), on October 9. Damage from the storms was estimated at over $200 billion. A multidisciplinary team from the Nearshore Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association (NEER) and the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association (GEER) groups initiated a large-scale data collection effort. The resulting dataset is a multidisciplinary collection of field data taken from before, during, and after this pair of devastating storms. As of May 2026, this dataset has been downloaded or viewed more than 2,500 times.

Authors: Nina Stark (PI), Michael Gardner (Co-PI), plus 25 co-authors

Dataset PRJ-5815

Infrastructure Resilience and Impact Study for Wildfire-affected Infrastructure in Los Angeles

(Image: Ertugrul Taciroglu et al)

In January 2025, two major wildfires devastated the Los Angeles region: the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire. Together, they burned about 60 square miles, destroyed more than 16,000 structures, and caused an estimated economic loss exceeding $75 billion.

This project focuses on the effect of wildfires in a wildland-urban interface. To capture change, the team collected data in February and March, then again in September 2025. Unique for its high level of detail and specific focus on infrastructure in densely populated areas adjacent to wildfire-prone wildlands, this dataset offers crucial insights into the immediate effects of wildfires on civil infrastructure. As of May 2026, the two datasets associated with this project have been downloaded or viewed over 1,800 times.

Authors: Ertugrul Taciroglu (PI), Negar Elhami Khorasani (Co-PI), Erica Fischer (Co-PI), Serdar Selamet (Co-PI), plus 21 co-authors

PRJ-5885

3D Broadband Ground Shaking Simulations of Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake Scenarios

(Image: Audrey Dunham, Erin Wirth)

This dataset contains three-dimensional broadband ground shaking simulations from 36 earthquake scenarios along the Cascadia subduction zone. Earthquake magnitudes range from ~M8.7 to M9.2 and extend along the full length of the subduction zone (Latitude range 40.2 - 50N).

This dataset expands upon the M9 Project database (Frankel et al., 2018; Wirth et al., 2018) by including a wider range of earthquake magnitudes and slip distributions. Importantly, these updated simulations include rupture onto secondary splay faults, or frontal thrust faults, which is critical to accomplish the goal of linking the ground shaking and tsunami generation from these scenarios to better understand the time-dependent impacts of these cascading hazards. As of May 2026, this dataset has been downloaded or viewed almost 1,700 times.

Authors: Audrey Dunham (PI), Erin Wirth (Co-PI), alex grant, and Arthur Frankel