U.S. Geological Survey National Strong-Motion Project strategic plan, 2017–22

The mission of the National Strong-Motion Project is to provide measurements of how the ground and built environment behave during earthquake shaking to the earthquake engineering community, the scientific community, emergency managers, public agencies, industry, media, and other users for the following purposes:

• Improving engineering evaluations and design methods for facilities and systems;
  
• Providing timely information for earthquake early warning, damage assessment, and emergency response action; and
  
• Contributing to a greater understanding of the mechanics of earthquake rupture, groundmotion characteristics, and earthquake effects.