The Congressional Natural Hazards Caucus held a briefing on January 22, 2001. Senate briefings serve as a forum to enlighten the caucus members, their staff, as well as the media about developments of the work group and recent events in the topic at hand. At the caucus briefing, USGS Associate Director for Geology P. Patrick Leahy spoke about the earthquake in El Salvador on January 13 that resulted in the deaths of more than 600 people and destruction of over 21,000 homes. Dr. William Hooke, Senior Policy Fellow at the American Meteorological Society, reviewed the caucus work group discussion paper , that addresses some of the challenges associated with natural disasters and gives policy recommendations for loss mitigation. Also see GAP Senior Advisor John Dragonetti's article, Current Status of Earthquake Hazard Reduction Legislation , reprinted with permission from The Professional Geologist .
Natural disasters including earthquakes cause damage that impacts communities across the country.
AGI along with its member societies the American Geophysical Union , the Association of American State Geologists , Geological Society of America , and the Seismological Society of America are involved with the Natural Hazards Caucus Work Group, which organizes events for the caucus members and staff and also prepares informational documents on issues related to natural hazards. Please see the Natural Hazards Caucus Work Group webpage for more information. All rights reserved.