Natural Hazards in Arizona

Natural hazards abound in Arizona. At the top of list: flash floods, severe weather, landslides and debris flows, earthquakes, and earth fissures. Other hazards, include: problem soils - a multi-billion dollar problem annually in the U.S.; volcanism - Arizona has three active volcanic fields and 1000s of extinct volcanoes, some of which are prone to collapse; locally, radon and arsenic can threaten health and human life.

Across America, floods, landslides and severe weather cost billions of dollars annually and result in scores of deaths and thousands of injuries.

Role of AZGS

Our chief role is to document and monitor geologic hazards associated with earth materials - soils, regolith, rock, rivers and landforms - and earth processes - earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity. We share our observations and research with civil authorities and land management agencies to inform their decision-making.

Our collective goal; a stronger more resilient Arizona.

Managing Natural Hazards

The best most efficacious way of managing natural hazards is to build a comprehensive historical, and whenever possible, prehistorical (e.g., trenching active faults to document thousands of years of activity), record of hazard events. Civil authorities, land managers, and the emergency management community can leverage that record to stage and deploy meaningful land management and emergency preparedness at the community level.

Hazard preparedness at the family-, business-, and community-level is critical to building a resilient community capable of mitigating the worst of natural hazards events.