Publications
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John B. "Jack" Townshend (1927-2012)
Jack Townshend, geophysicist and dedicated public servant, died on 13 August 2012 in Fairbanks, Alaska. He was 85. Jack's career with the federal government, most of it with the national magnetic observatory program, spanned more than six solar cycles of time, and he retired only days before his death. The duration of Jack's career encompassed an important period in the history of the advancement
Authors
Jeffrey J. Love, Carol A. Finn
Improving PAGER's real-time earthquake casualty and loss estimation toolkit: a challenge
We describe the on-going developments of PAGER’s loss estimation models, and discuss value-added web content that can be generated related to exposure, damage and loss outputs for a variety of PAGER users. These developments include identifying vulnerable building types in any given area, estimating earthquake-induced damage and loss statistics by building type, and developing visualization aids t
Authors
K. S. Jaiswal, D. J. Wald
Earthquake ground motion
Most of the effort in seismic design of buildings and other structures is focused on structural design. This chapter addresses another key aspect of the design process—characterization of earthquake ground motion. Section 3.1 describes the basis of the earthquake ground motion maps in the Provisions and in ASCE 7. Section 3.2 has examples for the determination of ground motion parameters and spect
Authors
Nicolas Luco, Michael Valley, C.B. Crouse
A terrestrial lidar-based workflow for determining three-dimensional slip vectors and associated uncertainties
Three-dimensional (3D) slip vectors recorded by displaced landforms are difficult to constrain across complex fault zones, and the uncertainties associated with such measurements become increasingly challenging to assess as landforms degrade over time. We approach this problem from a remote sensing perspective by using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and 3D structural analysis. We have developed
Authors
Peter O. Gold, Eric Cowgill, Oliver Kreylos, Ryan D. Gold
Assessing the validity of station location assumptions made in the calculation of the geomagnetic disturbance index, Dst
In this paper, the effects of the assumptions made in the calculation of the Dst index with regard to longitude sampling, hemisphere bias, and latitude correction are explored. The insights gained from this study will allow operational users to better understand the local implications of the Dst index and will lead to future index formulations that are more physically motivated. We recompute the i
Authors
Jennifer Gannon
The GED4GEM project: development of a Global Exposure Database for the Global Earthquake Model initiative
In order to quantify earthquake risk of any selected region or a country of the world within the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) framework (www.globalquakemodel.org/), a systematic compilation of building inventory and population exposure is indispensable. Through the consortium of leading institutions and by engaging the domain-experts from multiple countries, the GED4GEM project has been working t
Authors
P. Gamba, D. Cavalca, K. S. Jaiswal, C. Huyck, H. Crowley
Damping scaling of response spectra for shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions
No abstract available.
Authors
S. Rezaeian, Y. Bozorgnia, I.M. Idriss, K. Campbell, N. Abrahamson, W. Silva
Impact-based earthquake alerts with the U.S. Geological Survey's PAGER system: what's next?
In September 2010, the USGS began publicly releasing earthquake alerts for significant earthquakes around the globe based on estimates of potential casualties and economic losses with its Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. These estimates significantly enhanced the utility of the USGS PAGER system which had been, since 2006, providing estimated population exposure
Authors
D. J. Wald, K. S. Jaiswal, K. D. Marano, D. Garcia, E. So, M. Hearne
Demand surge following earthquakes
Demand surge is understood to be a socio-economic phenomenon where repair costs for the same damage are higher after large- versus small-scale natural disasters. It has reportedly increased monetary losses by 20 to 50%. In previous work, a model for the increased costs of reconstruction labor and materials was developed for hurricanes in the Southeast United States. The model showed that labor cos
Authors
Anna H. Olsen
Hillslope hydrology and stability
Landslides are caused by a failure of the mechanical balance within hillslopes. This balance is governed by two coupled physical processes: hydrological or subsurface flow and stress. The stabilizing strength of hillslope materials depends on effective stress, which is diminished by rainfall. This book presents a cutting-edge quantitative approach to understanding hydro-mechanical processes across
Authors
Ning Lu, Jonathan Godt
Holocene behavior of the Brigham City segment: implications for forecasting the next large-magnitude earthquake on the Wasatch fault zone, Utah
The Brigham City segment (BCS), the northernmost Holocene‐active segment of the Wasatch fault zone (WFZ), is considered a likely location for the next big earthquake in northern Utah. We refine the timing of the last four surface‐rupturing (~Mw 7) earthquakes at several sites near Brigham City (BE1, 2430±250; BE2, 3490±180; BE3, 4510±530; and BE4, 5610±650 cal yr B.P.) and calculate mean recurrenc
Authors
Stephen F. Personius, Christopher B. DuRoss, Anthony J. Crone
Extraordinary distance limits of landslides triggered by the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake
The 23 August 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake (Mw 5.8) was the largest to strike the eastern U.S. since 1897 and was felt over an extraordinarily large area. Although no large landslides occurred, the shaking did trigger many rock and soil falls from steep river banks and natural cliffs in the epicentral area and from steep road cuts along, and northwest of, the Blue Ridge Parkway. We mapped th
Authors
Randall W. Jibson, Edwin L. Harp