Although GEO-HAZ is a for-profit consulting company, its roots are in the academic research community. We were founded in 1991 with the goal of bringing the rigor of academic research methods, and its rapidly evolving technology, to the field of applied geological consulting. GEO-HAZ still performs research-type work in geological hazards, by collecting and analyzing new data to reveal cause-and-effect relationships, both in space (mapping) and in time (frequency-magnitude relationships).

Most of our research since the early 1980s has been studies of active faults in the USA, funded by the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction program (External Research Program). However, we have also investigated active faults in countries such as New Zealand, Korea, Russia, India, and South Africa. The results of the first decade of active fault research are contained in the 1st Edition of the book Paleoseismology (Academic Press; hardback 1996, paperback 1998). The next 15 years of research are summarized in the 2nd Edition of Paleoseismology (Elsevier, 2009). For more information on the book, see PALEOSEISMOLOGY.

Our second research area is mass movements, specifically landslides and deep-seated gravitational spreading (also known as sackung). For publications on this topic go to our DOWNLOADS page.