Recent research and development projects in the United States that could significantly affect the future mitigation of seismic risk are summarized. Specific activities described include a report to the governor of California on the Northridge earthquake, the ongoing effort to develop a new national seismic zoning map, development of a comprehensive regional seismic loss estimation methodology, and development of guidelines for the seismic rehabilitation of buildings. Interest in performance based seismic design is discussed and several new large-scale mitigation programs are described.