Southland Earthquake Research May Be Cut : Congress: Republicans in a cost-cutting mood appear to view the U.S. Geological Survey as dispensable. The agency’s backers say its collaboration with Caltech is vital.

The prospect that Congress would cut funding for the U.S. Geological Survey, which works hand-in-hand with Caltech in mapping and analyzing earthquake faults, could mean the end of earthquake research in Southern California, scientists said.

“I don’t think the people who advanced this idea really knew what they were doing,” said Clarence Allen, a retired geophysics professor who once oversaw operation of the network, the 250 high-tech monitors at Caltech that keep around-the-clock tabs on seismic activity from the Mexican border to as far north as Bishop. The network is funded with a $500,000 grant from the USGS.

“That is not to say that any university or any agency couldn’t get along with less funds. But to wipe out the whole program doesn’t make any sense at all,” Allen said.

The threat to USGS funding was raised in November by Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), the presumed new Speaker of the House, who said he thought the agency was unnecessary and that closing it down could be one step toward a less costly federal government.

Along with losing that $500,000 grant, Caltech scientists would also lose an additional $200,000 in personal research grants if the USGS is disbanded. In turn, about 40 Caltech scientists, 12 USGS scientists and clerical staff members would be out of work, Allen said.

In addition to its research, the Pasadena laboratory of the USGS provides high-tech equipment to Caltech, funds the work of a number of professors and provides the local reports on earthquakes and their meaning in Southern California. Scientists such as Lucile Jones who have become familiar television figures in explaining earthquakes are USGS geologists from the Caltech lab. “We would have to shut down the laboratory. We literally could not run the (network),” said Rob Clayton, a seismology professor at Caltech.

Tom Heaton, who heads the USGS office at Caltech, said it was unclear whether another government agency, such as the National Science Foundation, would assume the duties of the USGS if that agency is scrapped.

Eliminating the USGS was proposed last March in the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposal failed. But now that Republicans control the House and are looking for ways to pay for that party’s $148-billion “contract with America,” the program could end up back on the chopping block.

“Everything is back on the table again. We put that out as one of the items that could be used to help pay for the contract,” said Bruce Cuthbertson, press secretary for U.S. Rep. John Kasich, the Ohio Republican who first proposed eliminating the USGS.

“We are open to other suggestions. If people have other ideas of what can be cut, we are open to hearing them. Nothing is set in stone,” Cuthbertson said. “There’s not anything that’s necessarily being targeted. This is only an option at this point. We are willing to look at others.”

About $49 million of the Geological Survey’s $550-million annual budget goes to earthquake research, with most of that work being done in California. Along with its 250-station seismic network in Southern California, the USGS runs 350 such stations in Northern California.

The lion’s share of the USGS budget goes to water quality studies in all 50 states, mineral and gas research for the U.S. Department of Energy and topographical mapping.

Dave Wald, a geophysicist with the USGS’s Caltech office, said the agency shares earthquake information with other agencies such as the state Office of Emergency Services and local fire and police departments. Those agencies use the data to plan their responses to earthquakes.

“This sounds to me like the person who says government is too big and should be cut back, then complains when it takes police 20 minutes to respond to their call,” Wald said.

“I don’t mind someone saying, ‘Let’s look at what we can cut,’ but there’s no way they can cut the whole thing,” he said.