The most significant obstacles are obtaining the appropriate funding and implementing effective management. The proposed Advanced National Seismic Network will help significantly to overcome these obstacles. Our conceptual framework has not changed, but new data from GPS networks and strong motion records from large earthquakes are providing new insights into the physics of earthquakes and tectonic processes. This is the most important question in this sequence and the one of greatest consequence for citizens of the United States. To start, seismic hazards are primarily active faults and the earthquakes that occur along them.
Hazards also involve locations prone to ground failure during an earthquake.
In some instances we can stabilize these sites, if we can identify them. Risk is the likelihood that a building or facility will collapse or be damaged during an earthquake. We can do little to reduce the hazard embodied in an active fault or a major earthquake, but we can do alot about the risk to the structures that we design and build. It is important to remember the frequently quoted observation that earthquakes do not kill, but collapsed buildings and facilities do. The most effective methods now in place to reduce seismic risks are the design codes, technologies for building and lifelines rehabilitation, planning policies and emergency response measures, siting guidelines, and site stabilization technologies to reduce the hazards of ground failure.