News

From coastal erosion to measuring the storm surge and flooding as well as providing maps of affected areas, the U.S. Geological Survey is gearing up to provide information on Hurricane Fran as the storm develops, including real-time data, from its offices in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

What happens when a hurricane threatens? Homeowners in the path of the storm check their insurance policies and their shutters, vacationers decide to head inland or take their chances at the beach--and all over the U.S. Geological Survey, people get busy.

A preliminary magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred on Thurs., Sept. 5, 1996, in the Easter Island chain in the south Pacific, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A preliminary magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred on Taiwan, Thurs., Sept. 5, 1996, at 7:42 p.m. EDT (7:42 a.m., Sept. 6, local time on Taiwan).

The 350 employees of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mid-Continent Mapping Center, U.S. Department of the Interior, received Vice President Al Gore’s Hammer Award in Rolla on September 4. The Mid-Continent Mapping Center employees were honored for their team-based approach to streamlining operations and making them more responsive to customers.

The Nation has nearly 2 million names for its geographic features -- mountains, town, deserts, streams and everything in between.

Walter P. Ketterer, 80, of Reston, Va., died on August 17, 1996, at the Hospice of Northern Va., of kidney failure. Ketterer was the former chief of the scientific publications program of the U.S. Geological Survey.

An unusual influx of atrazine, nitrogen and phosphorus to the Potomac River was carried by flood waters in mid-June and briefly elevated concentrations of these agricultural chemicals, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Print-on-demand maps are coming soon, thanks to a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Geological Survey and 3M of St. Paul, Minn.

From glaciers and lava flats to white spruce woodlands and bog communities, a new U.S. Geological Survey report will aid scientists, managers and planners in organizing environmental data.

Potomac River flow, Chesapeake Bay freshwater inflow, and ground-water levels were well above normal in July, according to hydrologists at the U.S. Geological Survey.