ACP Chapter Meeting
US Geological Service National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC)
​April 20, 2018

​Over 25 ACP members and guests attended another great program highlighting a national service that is Colorado based. In April we met at the USGS NEIC in Golden for a tour and discussion presented by speaker Harvey Benz.

Here are a few highlights:

• The NEIC works 24/7 365 days a year to detect and locate over 25,000 earthquakes every year
• At all times, the NEIC has 21 analysts on duty
• Since 2004, the center has responded to 17 earthquakes over 8.0 magnitude
• Tsunami monitoring, warnings, responses, and other communications are the responsibility of the US National Weather Service
• 2,000 seismographic stations around the globe share data with the NEIC
• Notices of events are published within 15 minutes, and within 20 minutes the team is in full response mode
• The public seeks information primarily from the NEIC website, and site traffic soars after an event anywhere in the world
• The NEIC communications office assembles after any major event, and that team sends initial reports and updates with more detailed information to a distribution list of over 250 leaders, agencies, and groups including the military
• The best predictors of earthquake probability are the National Hazard Maps, also accessed through the NEIC website

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