Publications
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Key science issues in the central and eastern United States for the next version of the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps
The USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps are updated about every six years by incorporating newly vetted science on earthquakes and ground motions. The 2008 hazard maps for the central and eastern United States region (CEUS) were updated by using revised New Madrid and Charleston source models, an updated seismicity catalog and an estimate of magnitude uncertainties, a distribution of maximum magnitu
Authors
M.D. Peterson, C.S. Mueller
Strong ground motion in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during the M7.0 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake
No strong motion records are available for the 12 January 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquake. We use aftershock recordings as well as detailed considerations of damage to estimate the severity and distribution of mainshock shaking in Port-au-Prince. Relative to ground motions at a hard - rock reference site, peak accelerations are amplified by a factor of approximately 2 at sites on low-lying deposits in
Authors
Susan E Hough, Doug Given, Tomoyo Taniguchi, J.R. Altidor, Dieuseul Anglade, S-L. Mildor
On the contribution of reconstruction labor wages and material prices to demand surge
Demand surge is understood to be a socio-economic phenomenon of large-scale natural disasters, most commonly explained by higher repair costs (after a large- versus small-scale disaster) resulting from higher material prices and labor wages. This study tests this explanation by developing quantitative models for the cost change of sets, or "baskets," of repairs to damage caused by Atlantic hurrica
Authors
Anna H. Olsen, Keith A. Porter
Don't forget about the Christchurch earthquake: Lessons learned from this disaster
In the aftermath of the devastating magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11, attention quickly turned away from a much smaller, but also highly destructive earthquake that struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, just a few weeks earlier, on Feb. 22. Both events are stark reminders of human vulnerability to natural disasters and provide a harsh
Authors
Michael W. Hamburger, Walter D. Mooney
Earthquake rupture at focal depth, part II: mechanics of the 2004 M2.2 earthquake along the Pretorius Fault, TauTona Mine, South Africa
We analyze here the rupture mechanics of the 2004, M2.2 earthquake based on our observations and measurements at focal depth (Part I). This event ruptured the Archean Pretorius fault that has been inactive for at least 2 Ga, and was reactivated due to mining operations down to a depth of 3.6 km depth. Thus, it was expected that the Pretorius fault zone will fail similarly to an intact rock body in
Authors
V. Heesakkers, S. Murphy, D. A. Lockner, Z. Reches
Global Positioning System constraints on crustal deformation before and during the 21 February 2008 Wells, Nevada M6.0 earthquake
Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data from permanent sites and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) campaign data
we have estimated co-seismic displacements and secular background crustal deformation patterns associated with the 21
February 2008 Wells Nevada earthquake. Estimated displacements at nearby permanent GPS sites ELKO (84 km distant)
and GOSH (81 km distant) are 1.0±0.2 mm and 1.1±0.3
Authors
William C. Hammond, Geoffrey Blewitt, Corné Kreemer, Jessica R. Murray-Moraleda, Jerry L. Svarc
A Geo-referenced 3D model of the Juan de Fuca Slab and associated seismicity
We present a Geographic Information System (GIS) of a new 3-dimensional (3D) model of the subducted Juan de Fuca Plate beneath western North America and associated seismicity of the Cascadia subduction system. The geo-referenced 3D model was constructed from weighted control points that integrate depth information from hypocenter locations and regional seismic velocity studies. We used the 3D mod
Authors
J.L. Blair, P.A. McCrory, D. H. Oppenheimer, F. Waldhauser
Specifying initial stress for dynamic heterogeneous earthquake source models
Dynamic rupture calculations using heterogeneous stress drop that is random and self-similar with a power-law spatial spectrum have great promise of producing realistic ground-motion predictions. We present procedures to specify initial stress for random events with a target rupture length and target magnitude. The stress function is modified in the depth dimension to account for the brittle-ducti
Authors
D. J. Andrews, M. Barall
The role of dyking and fault control in the rapid onset of eruption at Chaitén Volcano, Chile
Rhyolite is the most viscous of liquid magmas, so it was surprising that on 2 May 2008 at Chaitén Volcano, located in Chile’s southern Andean volcanic zone, rhyolitic magma migrated from more than 5 km depth in less than 4 hours and erupted explosively with only two days of detected precursory seismic activity. The last major rhyolite eruption before that at Chaitén was the largest volcanic erupti
Authors
Charles Wicks, Llera De La, L.E. Lara, J. Lowenstern
Reply to "Comment on 'A model of earthquake triggering probabilities and application to dynamic deformations constrained by ground motion observations' by Ross Stein"
No abstract available.
Authors
J. Gomberg, K. Felzer
Stress transfer among en echelon and opposing thrusts and tear faults: Triggering caused by the 2003 Mw = 6.9 Zemmouri, Algeria, earthquake
The essential features of stress interaction among earthquakes on en echelon thrusts and tear faults were investigated, first through idealized examples and then by study of thrust faulting in Algeria. We calculated coseismic stress changes caused by the 2003 Mw = 6.9 Zemmouri earthquake, finding that a large majority of the Zemmouri afterslip sites were brought several bars closer to Coulomb fail
Authors
J. Lin, R. S. Stein, M. Meghraoui, S. Toda, A. Ayadi, C. Dorbath, S. Belabbes