What We Do - Natural Hazards Mission Area
The mission of the USGS in natural hazards is to develop and apply hazard science to help promote the safety, security, and economic well-being of the Nation.
The USGS is the Federal agency responsible for monitoring and notification of earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, flooding, coastal erosion and wildfires in the United States. The USGS provides scientific information to emergency responders, policy makers, and the public to reduce losses from a wide range of natural hazards and directly supports the warning responsibility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. USGS engages cooperatively with numerous agencies, research institutions, and organizations in the public and private sectors, across the Nation and around the world to reduce risk and impacts.
Scientists and staff within the Natural Hazards Mission Area (NHMA) work within six science Programs: Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources, Earthquake Hazards, Geomagnetism, Global Seismographic Network, Landslide Hazards, and Volcano Hazards located at Science Centers across the nation to fulfill the agency’s mission for natural hazards science.
Through these programs, the USGS provides alerts and warnings of geologic hazards and supports the warning responsibilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for geomagnetic storms and tsunamis. The Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources Program supports all the missions of the USGS, characterizing and assessing coastal and marine processes, conditions, change and vulnerability.
The NHMA also works with other mission areas focused on developing and maintaining an integrated and dedicated workforce of scientists and technicians with expertise in earth sciences, hydrology, biology, geography, social sciences, emergency management and other fields that collect and manage the information needed to prepare for and respond to a wide range of natural hazards and cascading consequences.
To achieve its primary mission, and to fulfill its responsibilities for loss and risk reduction, the NHMA develops, delivers, and applies several components of hazard science: observations and targeted research underpin assessments, forecasts, warnings, and crisis and disaster response. USGS provides research, data, products, and detailed information that enables Federal, Tribal, State, local, and private-sector end-users to better understand, anticipate and reduce their risks associated with natural, technological, and environmental hazards, and enables science-based decisions that effectively enhance resilience and reduce impacts from those threats.
