U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2011–3079

July 2011

USGS Emergency Response Resources

Printed on recycled paper

Every day, emergency responders are confronted 

with worldwide natural and manmade disasters, including 

earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunami, volcanoes, 

wildfires, terrorist attacks, and accidental oil spills. The 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is ready to coordinate the 

provisioning and deployment of USGS staff, equipment, 

geospatial data, products, and services in support of national 

emergency response requirements.

http://www.usgs.gov/

USGS Real-Time Information

General To monitor and analyze current natural hazards and events, 

the USGS integrates dynamic near-real-time data with geospatial base 

data on a single map.

Natural Hazards Support System (NHSS)

http://nhss.cr.usgs.gov/

Earthquakes Situational awareness tools include e-mail and text 

alerts to over 200,000 subscribers, and the Prompt Assessment of 

Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system’s rapid estimates of 

casualties and economic losses.

PAGER: Rapid estimate of fatalities/economic impact

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager

Did you feel it?

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi

Earthquake Notification Service (sign up for e-mail/text)

https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/

Volcanoes The USGS uses a common nationwide alert/notification 

system for characterizing the level of unrest and eruptive activity at the 

sites of the 169 active U.S. volcanoes, including threats to aviation and 

nearby communities. 

U.S. volcano alerts

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/status.php

Volcano status map

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/index.php

Landslides The USGS conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues 

landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to 

respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach activities. 

The USGS is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) on a prototype debris-flow warning system for 

wildfire-impacted areas of southern California.

Advisories

http://landslides.usgs.gov/advisories/

Monitoring

http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring

Flooding The USGS collects and distributes real-time streamflow 

data for 7,700 streamgages, provides onsite hydrologic expertise to the 

National Weather Service river forecast centers during major floods, 

deploys field crews to measure flood flows at streamgages and other 

locations of interest, performs highwater surveys for analysis of flood 

flows, and deploys water-level monitors to record hurricane storm surge.

Current flood conditions and flood-data portal

http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/new/index.php?id=ww

WaterAlert: Customized flood notification e-mails and messages

http://water.usgs.gov/wateralert/

StreaMail: Instant text message of current conditions

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/streamail/streamail-help.html

Summary of recent flooding (map and tabular data)

http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/new/index.php?id=wwdp2_2

National Flood Hazard Coordinator

Robert R. Holmes, Jr.

E-mail: bholmes@usgs.gov

Telephone: (573) 308–3581
USGS Flood and Hurricane Databases

The USGS maintains extensive datasets and statistical summaries of riverine flooding that can be accessed for historical 

context and preparation and assessment of FEMA flood-insurance 

rate maps. Storm-surge water-level and barometric-pressure data 

are useful for assessing past flooding and calibration of storm-surge 

models.

Storm-surge data, maps, and reports

http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/storm_surge.html

USGS peak flow file

http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/peak

Flood hydrographs

http://ida.water.usgs.gov/ida/index_usgs.cfm

Regional flood-frequency equations

http://water.usgs.gov/software/NSS/

Flood-frequency estimates for ungaged locations

http://water.usgs.gov/osw/streamstats/

Wildland Fire

GeoMAC This is a Web-based mapping application that provides 

current geospatial information on the status, location, and proximity of wildfires to natural resources, property, and infrastructure. This 

application, originally designed for fire managers to strategically place 

firefighting resources, has become increasingly popular with the public.

http://www.geomac.gov

USGS Geospatial Data and Services Supporting Emergency Response

Rapid Data Delivery System (RDDS) provides emergency and incident response teams with timely access to geospatial data.

http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/rdds

The National Map is easily accessible for display on the Web, as 

products and services, and as downloadable data. The geographic 

information available from The National Map includes orthoimagery 

(aerial photographs), elevation, geographic names, hydrography, 

boundaries, transportation, structures, and land cover.

http://nationalmap.gov/

US Topo provides 1-meter imagery no older than 3 years, hydrography, 

transportation, structures, boundaries, geographic names, and the U.S. 

National Grid.

http://nationalmap.usgs.gov/ustopo

Hazard Data Distribution System (HDDS) is the preeminent source 

for disaster imagery. HDDS provides services for pre-event baseline 

imagery and data, and the most recent event/disaster response imagery 

and data.

http://hdds.usgs.gov/hdds2/

USGS Offices Supporting Emergency Response

Key Senior Executives at USGS National Center and Regional 

Offices: Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, South Central, Southwest, 

Rocky Mountain, Northwest, and Alaska

http://www.usgs.gov/aboutusgs/organized/key_officials.asp

National Earthquake Information Center provides 24/7 monitoring 

and reporting of earthquakes in the United States and worldwide.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/neic/

Volcano Science Centers are five USGS volcano observatories (Alaska, 

Cascades, Hawaii, Long Valley, and Yellowstone) that monitor and issue 

alerts and warnings for the 169 active volcanoes in the United States.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/index.php

National Landslide Information Center provides technical assistance 

to respond to landslide emergencies.

http://landslides.usgs.gov/nlic/

USGS Water Science Centers located in each State, provide technical 

assistance for emergency measurement, monitoring, and analysis of 

floods, and sampling of chemical spills.

http://water.usgs.gov/district_chief.html

National Geospatial Program, Office of Emergency Operations

provides senior-level liaison support to the Department of Homeland Security, United States Northern Command, and the National 

Geospatial Intelligence Agency. In addition, the Office of Emergency 

Operations coordinates the acquisition and provision of satellite 

imagery and authoritative geospatial information for use in disaster 

preparations, rescue and relief operations, damage assessments, and 

reconstruction efforts.

USGS Geospatial Liaisons, as part of the National Geospatial Program’s 

Partnership Network, coordinate geospatial data acquisition and use with 

State and Federal emergency management officials and first responders.

http://liaisons.usgs.gov/geospatial/

Eastern Region Geographic Science Center provides imagery and geospatial analyses, GIS, and mapping expertise in support of the Department 

of the Interior’s Interior Operations Center and Web-based decision support tool development in partnership with other Federal agencies.

http://egsc.usgs.gov/

Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center provides imagery and 

geospatial analysis, science response vehicle (SRV) staffing, and geospatial support for wildland fire suppression activities.

http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/rmgsc/

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) provides satellite 

imagery, elevation data, and climate data to support emergency operations

http://eros.usgs.gov/.

National Wetlands Research Center provides Science Response 

Vehicle (SRV) deployment, SRV staffing, GIS, and mapping support

http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/

National Water-Quality Laboratory provides rapid analysis of waterquality contamination following a chemical spill, as needed.

http://nwql.usgs.gov/

Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center provides 

analytical capability to examine environmental contamination resulting 

from disasters.

http://crustal.usgs.gov/index.html

Coastal and Marine Geology Science Centers monitor and predict 

magnitudes of erosion of U.S. coasts during extreme storms, and 

support modeled assessments of storm surge.

http://marine.usgs.gov/index.php

For more information, please contact:

Robert D. Bewley

U.S. Geological Survey

590 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20192

Telephone: 703–648–5660

E-mail: rbewley@usgs.gov