Geologic Hazards Science Center

Home

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.

Earthquake Hazards Program

Earthquake Hazards Program

The Earthquake Hazards Program provides research and information products for earthquake loss reduction, including hazard and risk assessments, comprehensive real-time earthquake monitoring, and public outreach.

Earthquake Hazards

Landslide Hazards Program

Landslide Hazards Program

The National Landslide Hazards Program strives to reduce long-term losses from landslide hazards by improving our understanding of the causes of ground failure and suggesting mitigation strategies.

Landslide Hazards

Geomagnetism Program

Geomagnetism Program

The Geomagnetism Program provides continuous records of magnetic field variations; disseminates magnetic data; and conducts research into the nature of geomagnetic variations for purposes of scientific understanding and hazard mitigation.

Geomagnetism

News

Date published: January 7, 2021

Post-Wildfire Debris Flow Awareness

Post-wildfire hazards in Colorado can be as dangerous as the fires themselves.

Date published: December 4, 2020

2019 Ridgecrest, California Earthquake Sequence Geonarrative

A new geonarrative (Esri Story Map) summarizes the USGS response and findings after the M6.4 on July 4 and M7.1 on July 6, 2019 in Searles Valley, Southern California.

Date published: November 5, 2020

Now Trending…Earthquakes

The earth isn’t the only thing shaking after an earthquake.

Publications

Publication Thumbnail
Year Published: 2021

Modeling hydrologic processes associated with soil saturation and debris flow initiation during the September 2013 storm, Colorado Front Range

Seven days of extreme rainfall during September 2013 produced more than 1100 debris flows in the Colorado Front Range, about 78% of which occurred on south-facing slopes (SFS). Previously published soil moisture (volumetric water content) observations suggest that SFS were wetter than north-facing slopes (NFS) during the event, which contrasts...

Timilsina, Sujana; Niemann, Jeffrey D.; Rathburn, Sara L.; Rengers, Francis K.; Nelson, Peter A.

Publication Thumbnail
Year Published: 2021

Evaluation of simulated ground motions using probabilistic seismic demand analysis: CyberShake (ver. 15.12) simulations for Ordinary Standard Bridges

There is a need for benchmarking and validating simulated ground motions in order for them to be utilized by the engineering community. Such validation may be geared towards a specific ground motion simulation method, a target engineering application, and a specific location; the validation presented herein focuses on a bridge engineering...

Fayaz, Jawad; Rezaeian, Sanaz; Zareian, Farzin

Publication Thumbnail
Year Published: 2021

Rapid sensitivity analysis for reducing uncertainty in landslide hazard assessments

One of the challenges in assessing temporal and spatial aspects of landslide hazard using process-based models is estimating model input parameters, especially in areas where limited measurements of soil and rock properties are available. In an effort to simplify and streamline parameter estimation, development of a simple, rapid approach to...

Baum, Rex L.