President Obama announces 3D Elevation Program

President Obama announced the launch of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) on July 16. The 3D Elevation Program, a partnership program led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), aims to map the lower 48 states, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories with a laser technology called lidar (light detection and ranging) in an eight-year period.

EARTH Magazine: Are slow-slip earthquakes under Tokyo stressing faults?

New research examining plate movements under Tokyo has found that since the massive magnitude-9 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, recurrence intervals for nondamaging slow-slip quakes beneath Japan’s capital have shortened. That has left seismologists wondering if this aseismic creep could be signaling a countdown to Tokyo’s next “big one.” Read more about scientists’ estimations of Tokyo’s seismic risk in the August issue of EARTH Magazine.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds hearing on natural disaster response in Indian country

The Senate Indian Affairs committee held a hearing on July 30 to discuss responses to natural disasters on tribal lands.

Senate discusses wildfire funding at Energy and Natural Resources hearing

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on July 15 to discuss wildfire funding issues and examine more effective ways to prevent wildfires.

EARTH Magazine: Unlocking the Cascadia Subduction Zone's Secrets: Peering into Recent Research and Findings

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a 1,000-kilometer-long subduction zone stretching from Mendocino, Calif., to north of Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. A real threat is a potentially devastating magnitude-9 earthquake and the potentially ensuing tsunami — which has happened before and will happen again. But when? And what will happen when this massive fault does start shaking? Scientists have been working diligently over the last couple of decades to answer those questions. A series of recent oceanic research cruises and datasets has steadily advanced our understanding of Cascadia, but there is still much to learn.

NASA widens 2014 research mission to study hurricanes and tropical storms

During this Atlantic summer hurricane season, NASA plans to widen its tropical storm studies with the addition of two unmanned Global Hawk aircraft ideal for flying over storms and monitoring the conditions under which they form and intensify.

Colorado Senator Mark Udall calls for USGS funding to prevent natural disasters

On June 24, Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, called for the Senate to prioritize funding for natural hazard mitigation.

House committee examines earthquake early warning system

On June 10, the House Natural Resources, Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the development of an earthquake early warning system in the U.S.

USGS report: Record number of earthquakes recorded in Oklahoma

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports that the rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma has increased by about 50 percent since October 2013, indicating increased probability that a damaging quake will strike central Oklahoma.

EARTH Magazine: Precise to a fault: How GPS revolutionized seismic research

Prior to the quake, geoscientists had placed GPS markers in and around the San Francisco area. Immediately after the quake, researchers converged on the area to collect and compare the pre- and post-quake GPS data, which revealed the direction and speed of surface movements, allowing scientists to infer the pattern of slip on the fault plane that had ruptured far underground.

American Geosciences Institute

natural hazards