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Publications

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Regional calibration of hybrid ground‐motion simulations in moderate seismicity areas: Application to the Upper Rhine Graben

This study presents the coupling of the spectral decomposition results for anelastic attenuation, stress drop, and site effects with the Graves‐Pitarka (GP) hybrid ground‐motion simulation methodology, as implemented on the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) broadband platform (BBP). It is targeted to applications in the Upper Rhine graben (URG), which is among the seismically...
Authors
Hoby N. T. Razafindrakoto, Fabrice Cotton, Dino Bindi, Marco Pilz, Robert Graves, Sanjay Bora

Improving paleoseismic earthquake magnitude estimates with rupture length information: Application to the Puget Lowland, Washington State, U.S.A.

Both earthquake displacement and rupture length correlate with magnitude, and therefore observations of each from past earthquakes can be used to estimate the magnitude of those earthquakes in the absence of instrumental records. We extend the Bayesian inversion method of Biasi and Weldon (2006), which estimates paleoearthquake magnitude from displacement observations, to incorporate...
Authors
Richard Styron, Brian Sherrod

A review of timing accuracy across the Global Seismographic Network

The accuracy of timing across a seismic network is important for locating earthquakes as well as studies that use phase‐arrival information (e.g., tomography). The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) was designed with the goal of having reported timing be better than 10 ms. In this work, we provide a brief overview of how timing is kept across the GSN and discuss how clock‐quality metrics...
Authors
Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, David C. Wilson, D. Auerbach, S. Bargabus, P.W. Davis, M. Gunnels, K. Hafner, James Holland, A. Kearns, E. Klimczak

Rayleigh wave amplitude uncertainty across the Global Seismographic Network and potential implications for global tomography

The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a multiuse, globally distributed seismic network used by seismologists, to both characterize earthquakes and study the Earth’s interior. Most stations in the network have two collocated broadband seismometers, which enable network operators to identify potential metadata and sensor issues. In this study, we investigate the accuracy with which...
Authors
Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, C. A. Dalton, David C. Wilson

Physics‐based evaluation of the maximum magnitude of potential earthquakes induced by the Hutubi (China) underground gas storage

The world’s largest underground gas storage facility in Hutubi (HUGS), China, is a unique case where cyclic gas injection‐extraction induced both seismicity and ground deformation. To assess the potential for future induced seismicity, we develop a framework physically based on a well‐constrained hydro‐geomechanical model and on fully coupled poroelastic simulations. We first interpret...
Authors
Guoyan Jiang, Lin Liu, Andrew J Barbour, Renqi Lu, Hongfeng Yang

A revised position for the primary strand of the Pleistocene-Holocene San Andreas fault in southern California

The San Andreas fault has the highest calculated time-dependent probability for large-magnitude earthquakes in southern California. However, where the fault is multistranded east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, it has been uncertain which strand has the fastest slip rate and, therefore, which has the highest probability of a destructive earthquake. Reconstruction of offset...
Authors
Kim Blisniuk, Katherine M. Scharer, Warren D. Sharp, Roland Burgmann, Colin B. Amos, Michael Rymer

Earthquake magnitudes from dynamic strain

Dynamic strains have never played a role in determining local earthquake magnitudes, which are routinely set by displacement waveforms from seismic instrumentation (e.g., ML⁠). We present a magnitude scale for local earthquakes based on broadband dynamic strain waveforms. This scale is derived from the peak root‐mean‐squared strains (⁠A⁠) in 4589 records of dynamic strain associated with...
Authors
Andrew J Barbour, John O. Langbein, Noha Sameh Ahmed Farghal

The 2018 update of the US National Seismic Hazard Model: Ground motion models in the central and eastern US

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) is the scientific foundation of seismic design regulations in the United States and is regularly updated to consider the best available science and data. The 2018 update of the conterminous US NSHM includes major changes to the underlying ground motion models (GMMs). Most of the changes are motivated by the...
Authors
Sanaz Rezaeian, Peter M. Powers, Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Nico Luco, Arthur Frankel, Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson, Daniel McNamara

A probabilistic framework to model distributions of VS30

The time‐averaged shear‐wave velocity in the upper 30 m depth from the ground surface, or VS30⁠, is often used as a predictor to describe local site effects in ground‐motion models. Although VS30 is typically determined from in situ measurements, it is not always feasible to obtain such measurements due to project restrictions or site accessibility. This motivates the development and use...
Authors
Utkarsh Mital, Sean Kamran Ahdi, Julie Herrick, Junko Iwahashi, Alexandros Savvaidis, Alan K. Yong

Rapid strain release on the Bear River fault zone, Utah–Wyoming—The impact of preexisting structure on the rupture behavior of a new normal fault

Earthquake clustering (grouping in space and time) is a widely observed mode of strain release in the upper crust, although this behavior on individual faults is a departure from classic elastic rebound theory. In this study, we consider factors responsible for a cluster of earthquakes on the Bear River fault zone (BRF), a recently activated, 44-km-long normal fault on the eastern margin...
Authors
Suzanne Hecker, David P. Schwartz, Stephen B. DeLong

Electrical conductivity of pure CO2 hydrate and CH4 hydrate: Role of the guest molecule

To conclude a series of DOE-sponsored laboratory experiments in which our team measured electrical conductivity of methane hydrate-bearing samples, we investigated electrical conductivity of CO2 hydrate for direct comparison with methane hydrate. Their surprisingly distinct signatures could aid in the monitoring of CO2 in certain deep marine environments. To the best of our knowledge...
Authors
Laura A. Stern, S. Constable, Ryan Lu, Wyatt L. Du Frane, J. Dale Roberts

Expected warning times from the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest

The ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning system has been live since October 2019 for the testing of public alerting to mobile devices in California and will soon begin testing this modality in Oregon and Washington. The Pacific Northwest presents new challenges and opportunities for ShakeAlert owing to the different types of earthquakes that occur in the Cascadia subduction zone. Many...
Authors
Jeffrey J. McGuire, Deborah E. Smith, Arthur Frankel, Erin Wirth, Sara K. McBride, Robert Michael deGroot
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