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Geologic Hazards Science Center

The Geologic Hazards Science Center (GHSC), on the Colorado School of Mines campus, is home to the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC), many scientists in the Earthquake Hazards Program and Landslide Hazards Program, as well as the Geomagnetism Program staff.

News

Studying Tsunami Sands to Better Understand the 1700 Cascadia Earthquake

Studying Tsunami Sands to Better Understand the 1700 Cascadia Earthquake

USGS Seeks Landslide Risk Reduction Proposals

USGS Seeks Landslide Risk Reduction Proposals

USGS Seeks Earthquake Hazards Research Proposals

USGS Seeks Earthquake Hazards Research Proposals

Publications

Fire effects on geomorphic processes

Fire-induced geomorphic changes, such as enhanced erosion and debris-flow activity, are expected to increase with climate change owing to increases in fire activity and rainfall intensification. In this Review, we summarize how landscape attributes, rainfall and burn severity influence post-fire geomorphic responses over a range of temporal and spatial scales. Sub-hourly rainfall intensity and bur
Authors
Luke McGuire, Brian A. Ebel, Francis K. Rengers, Diana Vieira, Petter Nyman

Debris-flow entrainment modelling under climate change: Considering antecedent moisture conditions along the flow path

Debris-flow volumes can increase along their flow path by entraining sediment stored in the channel bed and banks, thus also increasing hazard potential. Theoretical considerations, laboratory experiments and field investigations all indicate that the saturation conditions of the sediment along the flow path can greatly influence the amount of sediment entrained. However, this process is usually n
Authors
Anna Könz, Jacob Hirschberg, Brian McArdell, Benjamin B. Mirus, Tjalling de Haas, Perry Bartelt, Peter Molnar

Assessing locations susceptible to shallow landslide initiation during prolonged intense rainfall in the Lares, Utuado, and Naranjito municipalities of Puerto Rico

Hurricane Maria induced about 70 000 landslides throughout Puerto Rico, USA, including thousands each in three municipalities situated in Puerto Rico's rugged Cordillera Central range. By combining a nonlinear soil-depth model, presumed wettest-case pore pressures, and quasi-three-dimensional (3D) slope-stability analysis, we developed a landslide susceptibility map that has very good performance
Authors
Rex L. Baum, Dianne L. Brien, Mark E. Reid, William Schulz, Matthew J. Tello