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Hazards

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, and wildfires threaten lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, agriculture, and water resources resulting in billions of dollars in damage annually around the world. USGS works with partners to monitor, assess, and conduct targeted research to help identify hazard characteristics to enhance preparedness, response, and resilience.

International Hazards Science Highlights

Earthquake Disaster Assistance Team

crumbling house on grassy field

The USGS Earthquake Disaster Assistance Team (EDAT), provides critical situational awareness and products for timely U.S. government humanitarian response decisions. EDAT works around the world with in-country and technical counterparts to provide global life-saving expertise, monitoring/warning systems, equipment maintenance, and hazard assessments.

EDAT

Volcano Disaster Assistance Program

Responses by the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program

By providing critical monitoring infrastructure, training, and ongoing consultation, the USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) aims to help countries around the world mitigate risks posed by dangerous volcanoes.

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Landscape showing stream floodplain and erosion of streambanks, with cloudy sky and forested mountains

Assessing River Erosion and Sedimentation in Ecuador

In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, USGS is helping Ecuadorian government officials from the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC) develop strategies for managing sediment and erosion in the Río Coca basin after the 2020 collapse of the 144-meter-tall San Rafael waterfall.
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International Programs
Assessing River Erosion and Sedimentation in Ecuador

Assessing River Erosion and Sedimentation in Ecuador

In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, USGS is helping Ecuadorian government officials from the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC) develop strategies for managing sediment and erosion in the Río Coca basin after the 2020 collapse of the 144-meter-tall San Rafael waterfall.
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concrete platform with solar panel in snow, and someone drilling into it

Photo Journal: Global Seismographic Network (GSN) Field Engineers Visit the Northernmost Town in the World

In October 2022 GSN field engineers from the Albuquerque Seismic Lab visited the northernmost town in the world, Longyearbyen (Svalbard, Norway) on their way north to GSN station IU-KBS for a station upgrade. GSN station IU-KBS is located in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, International Programs
Photo Journal: Global Seismographic Network (GSN) Field Engineers Visit the Northernmost Town in the World

Photo Journal: Global Seismographic Network (GSN) Field Engineers Visit the Northernmost Town in the World

In October 2022 GSN field engineers from the Albuquerque Seismic Lab visited the northernmost town in the world, Longyearbyen (Svalbard, Norway) on their way north to GSN station IU-KBS for a station upgrade. GSN station IU-KBS is located in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago.
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USGS science for a changing world logo

Optimizing satellite resources for the global assessment and mitigation of volcanic hazards

A vast number of the world’s volcanoes are unmonitored by ground-based sensors, yet constitute an important hazard to nearby residents and infrastructure, as well as air travel and the global economy. Satellite data provide a cost-effective means of tracking activity at such volcanoes. Unfortunately, satellite acquisitions are not optimized for application to volcano hazards, in part...
By
John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, International Programs
Optimizing satellite resources for the global assessment and mitigation of volcanic hazards

Optimizing satellite resources for the global assessment and mitigation of volcanic hazards

A vast number of the world’s volcanoes are unmonitored by ground-based sensors, yet constitute an important hazard to nearby residents and infrastructure, as well as air travel and the global economy. Satellite data provide a cost-effective means of tracking activity at such volcanoes. Unfortunately, satellite acquisitions are not optimized for application to volcano hazards, in part because cle
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