Earthquakes

A list of the 20 largest earthquakes in the world.

USGS scientists conduct research and provide scientific response to damaging earthquakes in active tectonic regions of the United States and around the world.

Studying Earthquake Hazards and Rifting Processes in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys

Repeated earthquakes shape the Earth over the millennia and fault zones often have unique and diagnostic landforms caused by the faulting process. In order to measure the rate at which the Earth’s crust deforms between, during and after earthquakes, precise measurements need to be made along active faults zones.

There are currently two main Experimental Rock Physics Laboratories in the Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California. These laboratories specialize in generating earthquakes under controlled conditions.

This research focuses on the ability to determine what areas are more prone to experiencing effects such as liquefaction and landslides when there is shaking from an earthquake.

The constant plate tectonic motions between the Pacific and North American plates guarantees that the crust in the western US is continually building up stress. Crustal deformation refers to the changing earth’s surface caused by tectonic forces that are accumulated in the crust and then cause earthquakes.

Waveform data from the GSN and ANSS backbone are transmitted from the station to the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in near-real time, where they are used for rapid earthquake response. A small number of stations do not have telemetry, and data from those sites are transmitted to the USGS via media such as tapes or CDs. As part of GSN and backbone operations, waveform data are...

A list of accomplishments of the ANSS.