OMSI Media Contact:
Amita Joshi
503.797.4517
ajoshi@omsi.edu
For Immediate Release
DISASTER STRIKES AT OMSI
Nature’s forces unleashed May 26
Portland, OR (May 8, 2012) – Shake, rattle and RUN! Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and tornadoes
descend on the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) this spring and summer with
Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters. The new exhibition explores these spectacular phenomena
through interactive displays, state-of-the-art animations, poignant, large-scale images, and cultural
artifacts.
“Museum visitors are in for a memorable and powerful experience,” said OMSI President Nancy
Stueber. “Everyone identifies with and is affected by the intense natural forces of our world. OMSI
provides information about the dynamic processes behind these events. ”
Guests will be able to witness what it’s like to stand inside a roaring tornado; trigger an underwater
earthquake and simulate a tsunami; create a virtual volcano; touch and examine real rock and lava
specimens that tell of past geologic events; discover how people adapt to living at risk; and be inspired
by the resiliency of disaster survivors.
“Our planet nurtures and sustains life, but it can also humble us with its dramatic power,” said Chief
Meteorologist Matt Zaffino, of media sponsor KGW NewsChannel 8. “Nature Unleashed examines how
we can prepare for, and in some cases minimize, the impact of nature’s fury.”
From Pompeii to Papua New Guinea to New Orleans to Greensburg, Kansas, Nature Unleashed examines
the science behind the history and the headlines. It illustrates how much we know – and how much we
are still learning – about nature’s terrifying power.
OMSI will feature Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters May 26 through September 3, 2012. The
price of the exhibition is included in general admission. Members are free. For more information, visit
www.omsi.edu.
Nature Unleashed and its national tour were developed by The Field Museum in Chicago and are
sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company. “Allstate is proud to serve as the National Tour Sponsor of
The Field Museum’s Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters exhibition” said Joan Walker, Senior
Vice President of Corporate Relations and Marketing. “Nature Unleashed will foster understanding of
natural phenomena and our human responses to them so that we are all better protected today and
prepared for tomorrow.”
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The Local Supporting Sponsor for this exhibition is Chevron. The Media Sponsor is KGW NewsChannel 8.
Exhibition Overview/Highlights:
Earthquakes and Volcanoes : Going Deep Inside the Earth for Answers
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A look at what happens deep in the Earth’s interior, where heat and pressure generate
tremendous forces that cause the plates of the Earth’s surface to crack and move.
Museum visitors can learn about the more than 100,000 earthquakes that occur across the
globe each year through an interactive display that allows them to manipulate real-time
earthquake data, such as location, time, magnitude, and depth.
What Triggers Earthquakes and Tsunamis? Forces and Faults
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Interactive displays illustrate the properties of three different types of faults.
Visitors can trigger a virtual underwater earthquake to see how a tsunami develops and spreads
around the globe.
Selected artifacts illustrate the resilience of populations who have developed ways of adapting
to the world's most seismically active environments.
Exploration of the complex scientific, political, and social issues involved in preparing whole
communities for natural disasters by asking the question: How do we balance the needs and
resources of a community against the need to prepare for an earthquake that may, or may not,
ever come?
Volcanoes : Mount Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Mount St. Helens, and Yellowstone
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Visitors can learn about different types of volcanoes and the processes that lead to
eruptions through three-dimensional displays and samples of different forms of lava.
Engaging interactive display that lets visitors control levels of gas and silica in a volcano’s
magma to create their own virtual volcanic eruptions.
Rare artifacts from Pompeii demonstrate how volcanic ash destroyed the ancient city, while
preserving it for later discovery.
A device called a spider is lowered into active volcanoes to monitor deformation of the
Earth’s surface associated with impending eruptions, and transmits real-time data to
scientists via satellite. Nature Unleashed shows a spider that was damaged while monitoring
Mount St. Helens, proof of the powerful forces at work inside a volcanic crater.
Hurricanes and Tornadoes: The Impact of Violent Weather
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Compelling displays of two of the most infamous hurricanes in American history: Galveston in
1900 and Katrina in 2005.
o The Galveston hurricane is the deadliest natural disaster in our nation’s history. Images
and displays illustrate the ways in which it served as a turning point in our
understanding of how to prepare for, and cope with, these enormous storm systems.
o Images, artifacts and first-hand audio accounts of Hurricane Katrina tell the stories of
people directly affected by the disaster.
Visitors can examine the patterns of rings in a tree specimen collected from the Gulf Coast to
learn about the cycles of hurricanes in the southeastern United States. Through this research,
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we can get a better understanding of the extent to which climate change impacts hurricane
activity.
Tornadoes: A Look Inside Deadly Winds
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Thrilling audio and video footage provided by Samaras is projected “in the round” to give visitors
the opportunity to step into the path of an oncoming tornado.
Photos of the devastation and objects collected from the site of the 2007 Greensburg, Kansas
tornado - including a tree stump completely stripped of its bark and impaled across the grain by
a piece of metal - reveal the power and strength of this one-mile-wide and 205-mile-per-hour
wind phenomenon.
Conclusion
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Visitors see present-day glimpses of the places they encountered that were, at one time or
another, rocked by disaster. The images hold out the hopeful possibility that as destructive as
these events can be, we are not powerless against them; that if we make the right choices, we
might not only survive, but thrive.
Related Events:
Rescue
OMNIMAX Film
Opens Saturday, May 26, at OMNIMAX
Rescue plunges audiences into the hard, but inspiring work of saving lives in the face of a natural
disaster. The film takes the audience behind the scenes during rescue training, and then sweeps viewers
along to respond to one of the biggest humanitarian disasters of the century: the infamous 2010
earthquake in Haiti.
Pricing:
OMNIMAX Dome Theater, Matinee: $8.50 Adults, $6.50 Youth 3-13 and Senior 63+ ($1 off for members)
OMNIMAX Dome Theater, 6:00 p.m.–close: $6.00 Adults, $5.00 Youth 3-13 and Senior 63+ ($1 off for
members)
For more information, call 503-863-5611 or visit: http://www.omsi.edu/omnimax.
Rescue: Responding to Disaster
OMNIMAX Film Festival Event
Saturday, June 30, 9:30am - 9:00pm at OMNIMAX
Join OMSI for a day focused on the men and women who risk their lives to help others in time of need.
For this event, all screenings of the giant screen film Rescue and entrance to OMSI’s featured exhibition
Nature Unleashed are free to Film Festival pass holders and one guest. Pass holders may purchase
additional tickets for Rescue at the low price of $3 each and admission to Nature Unleashed at the
special price of $5 per person.
This is a special ticketed event. For more information, visit http://www.omsi.edu/film-festival.
About OMSI
Founded in 1944, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is one of the nation’s leading
science museums, a world-class tourist attraction, and an award-winning educational resource for the
kid in each of us. OMSI is located at 1945 SE Water Avenue, Portland, OR 97214. For general
information, call 503.797.4000 or visit www.omsi.edu.
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