Images

Strong shaking during the 1868 Hayward Fault earthquake caused the second story of the Alameda County Courthouse in San Leandro to collapse (photo courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California). The inset photo shows the courthouse before the quake

False Bay, South Africa

2009 Red River flooding in Grand Forks, North Dakota

Instrument on poles in the surf zone for a coastal erosion study.

USGS videographer Steve Wessells interviews USGS scientist Dr. Robert Fisher about the ecological effects of the Harris Fire. Dulzura Creek.

USGS personnel at work using acoustic doppler on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

USGS personnel at work using acoustic doppler on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

This two story hospital wing in Cauquenes, Chile suffered severe damage to the wall of the first floor as a result of the M 8.8 earthquake on Feb. 27, 2010. This building must be torn down. All patients were successfully evacuated at 3:34 AM after the earthquake shaking started.

An HVO geologist photographs a small breakout covering the last stretch of exposed asphalt near the intersection of highways 130 and 137, just west of the current County lava viewing area.

A pahoehoe toe oozes onto the road, igniting the asphalt and nearby brush.

Launching a cabin boat outfitted with telemetry tracking equipment during high water on the Missouri River from the Hartsburg, Missouri, boat ramp. 

Just moments after the last photograph, the collapse produced a thick brown plume, but did not appear to trigger an explosive event in this case.

Damage to a house in Louisa County, Virginia, after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake on August 23, 2011.

USGS scientist Craig D. Allen observes the results of the extensive, tree-killing fire that consumed almost all above-ground biomass in this part of the Las Conchas Fire burn area in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Photo taken in late August 2011, two months post-fire.

Collapse sinkhole in a salt dome in Daisetta, Texas (September 2008). Salt is particularly susceptible to rapid dissolution causing large bowl-shaped sinkholes. Injection of fluids into this salt dome increased the dissolution of the salt causing a 60-foot deep sinkhole that covered several acres and destroyed many buildings.

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck the island of Anjouan in the Union of the Comoros on March 12, 2014.  Heavy rainfall trigger landslides and damages were incurred to buildings, roads, and water supplies. As a precaution, more than 3,000 citizens living below the landslides were moved to a refugee camp.

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck the island of Anjouan in the Union of the Comoros on March 12, 2014.  Heavy rainfall trigger landslides and damages were incurred to buildings, roads, and water supplies. As a precaution, more than 3,000 citizens living below the landslides were moved to a refugee camp.

Heavy rains from a tropical cyclone struck the islands of the Comoros in March, 2014. On the island of Anjouan in the Union of Comoros, these rains triggered landslides that displaced over 3000 people to refugee camps.

Pedernales River at Hamilton Pool Crossing after September 1952 flood. Trees destroyed by flood of September 11, 1952.  Discharge of Pedernales River near Spicewood, TX (USGS station 08154000) was 452,000 cfs.

Full view of the ground with the San Andreas fault running through the middle of the image. A 30 foot steam offset from the 1857 earthquake can be seen near the right edge of the image.

Sign above bathroom at Horseshoe Lake announcing CO2 hazard. Notice the ventilation in the bathroom.