Natural Hazards – A National Threat

USGS Science Helps Build Safer Communities

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2007-3009 

February 2007 Printed on recycled paper

Seven Tsunami events in the United States and Puerto Rico 

The USGS Role in Reducing 

Disaster Losses

In the United States each year, natural 

hazards cause hundreds of deaths and 

cost billions of dollars in disaster aid, 

disruption of commerce, and destruction of homes and critical infrastructure. 

Although the number of lives lost to 

natural hazards each year generally has 

declined, the economic cost of major 

disaster response and recovery continues 

to rise. Each decade, property damage 

from natural hazards events doubles or 

triples. The United States is second only 

to Japan in economic damages resulting 

from natural disasters. 

A major goal of the U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) is to reduce the vulnerability of the people and areas most at 

risk from natural hazards. Working with 

partners throughout all sectors of society, 

the USGS provides information, products, 

and knowledge to help build more resilient communities. 

Presidential Disaster Declarations in the United States and Territories by county from 

1965–2003 reflect the broad geographic distribution and human impacts of earthquakes, floods, 

hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes and wildfires. (Map not to Scale. Source: FEMA)

Presidential

Disaster 

Declarations

By County

1965–2003

 Natural Hazards Impacts: USGS Science Seeks to Achieve:

• Earthquakes have the highest potential for causing catastrophic 

 casualties, property damage, and economic disruption.

• Over 75 percent of declared Federal disasters are related to 

 floods.

• More than half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of 

 a coast. Many of these areas, especially the Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts, will be in the direct path of future hurricanes.

• Landslides affect every State, causing $3.5 billion dollars 

 annually in damages and between 25 and 50 deaths.

• The United States faces significant tsunami threats to the

 West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska, and island territories in the 

 Caribbean and the Pacific.

• The United States has 169 active volcanoes capable of 

 producing a wide range of hazards that threaten people and 

 infrastructure on the ground as well as aircraft in flight.

• In 2004, wildfires burned more than 8 million acres in 40 

 States.

• Rapid earthquake impact assessments delivered to emer-

 gency managers

• Real-time flood inundation mapping to support emergency 

 response

• Predictions of coastal impacts 48 hours before hurricane 

 landfall

• Tsunami risk maps for all coastal areas that may be at risk

• Better predictions of where and when landslides will occur

• Early detection of volcanic activity to allow maximum 

 response time

• Real-time wildfire condition information to support rapid 

 firefighting activity

• Integrated information about multiple hazards to create

 new products that are useful for reducing loss of life and

 property from natural hazards.
The USGS provides scientific research 

and real-time information to help citizens, 

emergency managers, and policymakers 

decide how to react to each hazard and 

how to safeguard society.

The USGS has the lead Federal 

responsibility for issuing alerts about 

earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. These effective forecasts and warnings, which are based on the best possible 

scientific information, are intended to 

enhance public safety and reduce losses. 

Other agencies rely on USGS information to help them fulfill their responsibilities regarding natural hazards. For 

example, the National Weather Service 

(NWS) relies on USGS real-time streamflow information for developing forecasts 

and issuing flood watches and warnings. 

The NWS also relies on data from 

USGS-supported seismic networks as a 

primary input for tsunami warnings. 

USGS seismic hazard maps provide 

information essential to building codes 

adopted by States and localities nationwide. USGS pre-hurricane forecasts 

regarding impacts to infrastructure are 

essential for evacuation and poststorm 

recovery efforts. USGS notices of volcanic activity are used by the Federal 

Aviation Administration, NWS, airlines, 

and the Department of Defense to keep 

air traffic flowing safely. USGS volcano 

hazard assessments are used by State and 

local communities and land managers to 

guide development in hazardous areas and 

to develop eruption response and mitigation plans. The USGS and its Federal 

partners monitor seasonal wildfire danger 

conditions and provide firefighters with 

maps of current fire locations, perimeters, 

and potential spread. 

USGS Priorities for 

Natural Hazard Science

The USGS has made major advances 

in its ability to assess, monitor, and predict natural hazards. Its current challenge 

is to turn technical ability into operational 

capability. 

The USGS is focusing on strengthening its science that deals with natural 

hazards that typically have a sudden 

onset and can have catastrophic consequences in terms of loss of life and 

destruction of property—earthquakes, 

floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, 

volcanoes, and wildfires. It brings a 

broad combination of disciplines—biology, geology, hydrology, geography, and 

geospatial information technology—to 

bear on all these hazards. This work is 

also applicable to more gradual hazards 

such as drought and the effects of changing climate. The USGS, in collaboration 

with its partners, can help reduce disaster 

losses by:

• Issuing more timely and accurate

warnings of the severity and locations 

of hazards when they occur

• Ensuring the availability of hazard

predictions and warnings to all those 

who may be impacted by a natural 

hazard

• Developing products in formats that 

are useful to a wide range of users 

and that can be quickly put into the 

hands of emergency management 

personnel to guide their rescue and 

recovery efforts

• Characterizing natural hazards and 

their risks

• Installing and operating the monitoring networks necessary to detect and 

track hazardous phenomena

• Increasing the scientific understanding 

of why, where, how, and when natural 

disasters occur and communicating 

that understanding to affected communities and the Nation.

An eruption cloud ascends from Redoubt 

Volcano, Alaska, as viewed to the west from 

the Kenai Peninsula on April 21, 1990.

(Photo by R. Clucas)

A 1964 earthquake-generated tsunami left 

severe damage in Seward, Alaska, and 

along Prince William Sound. (Photo by the 

Department of the Interior)

Hurricane Katrina caused widespread 

destruction along the Gulf Coast in late

summer 2005. (Photo by Mark Wolfe, FEMA)

Homes in East Grand Forks, Minn., are submerged following flooding in 1997. (Photo by 

David Saville, FEMA)
A Vision for the Future

In order to provide science that safeguards society from natural disasters, the USGS must collect accurate and timely information 

from modern earth observation networks, assess areas at risk from natural hazards, and conduct research targeted at improving 

hazard predictions. 

Collect Information from Earth 

Observation Hazard Networks 

Robust monitoring networks provide 

the fundamental information needed 

to accurately predict and characterize 

hazards as well as information vital to 

response and recovery efforts. Modernization of earthquake, volcano, and 

flood monitoring networks in particular 

are critical to help communities prepare 

for, respond to, and rebuild following 

natural hazard events. Future success 

depends on:

Fully deploying the Advanced 

National Seismic System to improve 

seismic monitoring of the 26 U.S. 

urban areas at greatest risk from 

earthquakes

Developing the National Volcano 

Early Warning System so that the 

most threatening of the Nation’s 

volcanoes are well monitored with 

modern, real-time networks

Esuring a stable, core network of 

USGS-supported streamflow stations 

for continuity of data critical for flood 

warnings, drought management, and 

other uses

Expanding the Marsh Surface Elevation Table Network to evaluate the 

effects of hurricanes on coastal 

wetlands

Systematically acquiring moderate 

resolution, multi-spectral imaging; 

temporally repeated National Land 

Cover Dataset products; and LIDAR 

to assess and monitor hazards-related 

landscape changes.

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Assess and Characterize 

Natural Hazards 

Characterizing hazards—determining 

where they are likely to occur and how 

large they are likely to be—is essential 

for making decisions about where and 

how to live and build. Examples include:

Evaluating the physical and socioeconomic vulnerability of both the 

built and the natural environment to 

multiple hazards

Creating multi-hazard maps for 

at-risk urban areas

Enhancing LANDFIRE—an interagency cooperative assessment of 

wildfire factors—to project changes 

in vegetation, fire fuels, and fire characteristics over time 

Developing streamflow characteristics for all locations in the Nation, 

including areas without streamgages

Assessing vulnerability of hurricanethreatened U.S. coasts to different 

hurricane types and intensities

Determining potential for tsunami 

generation in U.S. offshore waters

Providing high-resolution digital 

imagery to more accurately characterize hazard susceptibility.

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Target Research on Hazard 

Processes and Prediction

Accurate forecasts and predictions are 

dependent on understanding the physical 

processes that control the occurrence, 

distribution, timing, and severity of a 

hazard. Additional targeted research is 

needed to make significant advances in 

hazard prediction: 

Advancing knowledge of the timedependence of earthquake processes 

can enable forecasts that focus on 

those faults most likely to rupture 

soon.

Forecasting the style and magnitude 

of volcanic eruptions builds on the 

current ability to forecast the timing 

of eruptions.

Understanding of landslide processes 

will form the basis for real-time 

landslide and debris-flow warning 

systems.

Research on tsunami-generating 

processes will improve assessments of 

tsunami hazard potential.

Advancing non-contact data collection and real-time estimates of measurement uncertainty could significantly improve flood estimates.

An enhanced awareness of the role of 

wetlands in protecting coastal communities from the ravaging impacts of 

hurricanes is needed to improve risk 

assessments.

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Parts of San Francisco were devastated 

following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 

October 1989. (Photo by C.E. Meyer, USGS)
Early Warning of Hazards

When a hazard looms, advanced 

warning can make a critical difference 

in saving lives and protecting property. 

A primary goal of USGS science is to 

provide warnings further in advance of 

the onset of a hazard event. Priorities 

include: 

Earthquakes: Develop new methodologies that use seismic data telemetry to reduce the response time for 

earthquake notification, in some cases 

before shaking begins

Volcanoes: Provide a five-minute 

notification of ash-producing volcanic 

eruptions so that air traffic control 

centers can provide airline pilots and 

dispatchers enough lead time to alter 

flight plans

Landslides and Debris Flows:

Develop and fully deploy debris-flow 

early warning systems in partnership 

with the NWS

Flood: Provide real-time information 

from USGS streamgages for the NWS 

and others to use in making forecasts 

and issuing flood warnings

Forecast Coastal Change 

Resulting from Hurricanes:

Forecast the expected locations 

and relative magnitudes of extreme 

coastal changes 48 hours before hurricane landfall by using hurricane track 

and intensity forecasts supplied by the 

National Hurricane Center

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 USGS Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project

The USGS proposes a new project in Southern California to demonstrate how 

integrating information and products about multiple hazards can help to reduce vulnerability of high-risk communities to natural hazards. The Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project brings the unique research and systems capabilities of the USGS to 

bear on the complex issues surrounding natural hazards events, especially those that 

are interrelated such as fire, floods, debris flows, earthquakes, or tsunamis.

Why Southern California?

Southern California has one of the Nation’s highest potentials for extreme 

catastrophic losses due to natural hazards. Estimates of expected losses from these 

hazards in eight counties of Southern California exceed $3 billion per year.

This project will expand the use of USGS science through more effective risk 

communication and better technology. The USGS will engage the local emergency 

management community in all phases of the project to determine their needs, design 

projects to fulfill those needs, and deliver relevant products that result in more 

disaster-resilient communities. Integrated information from modern earth observation networks, targeted research on hazards processes, and comprehensive hazard 

assessments will lead to better understanding of when, where, and how hazards 

occur. As a result, predictions will be more timely and accurate, providing the lead 

time needed to save lives and property.

The USGS is working closely with a number of partners in Southern California, 

who will help plan and guide the implementation of the USGS Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project. Results expected include:

Prototype early warning systems 

for flash floods and debris flows

Integrated hazards maps developed 

in collaboration with local emergency

managers

Hazard scenarios to identify 

vulnerabilities

Systems for hazards monitoring 

and risk assessment

Robust/hardened information 

technology and telecommunications

systems to ensure availability

of critical information at all times.

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 For More Information

 www.usgs.gov/hazards/

An ambulance passes evacuees during a 

June 2002 wildfire in Colorado. (Photo by 

Bryan Dahlberg, FEMA)

In June 2005, these homes in Laguna 

Beach, Calif., were heavily damaged during landslides triggered by record rainfall. 

(Photo by the USGS)