From the current issue of Science Magazine (April 2015), see this editorial by the editor-in-chief who used to be director of the USGS. The title is A Community for Disaster Science.

I am not going to comment just yet on the article. I have sent it to the directors of the Disaster Research Center at the Univ. of DE, Prof. James Kendra, and to the Hazards Center at the Univ. of CO/Boulder, Prof. Kathleen Tierney. I am awaiting their replies. In the meantime I invite readers to comment.

Update: See this posting by Eric Holdeman with his take on this topic.

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Thanks to Ian McLean in NZ for bringing this article to my attention.