Publications
Educational Publications
Educational Publications
Selected publications about earthquakes In plain language.
Filter Total Items: 2573
An updated stress map of the continental U.S. reveals heterogeneous intraplate stress
Knowledge of the state of stress in the Earth’s crust is key to understanding the forces and processes responsible for earthquakes. Historically, low rates of natural seismicity in the central and eastern United States have complicated efforts to understand intraplate stress, but recent improvements in seismic networks and the spread of human-induced seismicity have greatly improved data coverage.
Authors
Will Levandowski, Robert B Hermann, Richard W. Briggs, Oliver S. Boyd, Ryan D. Gold
Seismicity in the Challis, Idaho region, January 2014 - May 2017: Late aftershocks of the 1983 Ms 7.3 Borah Peak earthquake
In April 2014, after about 20 yrs of relatively low seismicity, an energetic earthquake sequence (maximum ML 4.8) began 25–30 km northwest of the 1983 Ms 7.3 Borah Peak earthquake rupture area near the town of Challis, Idaho. This sequence ended in the fall of 2014, but in January 2015, a second energetic sequence (maximum ML 5.0) began about 20 km to the southeast. Modest seismicity has continued
Authors
Guanning Pang, Keith D. Koper, Michael C. Stickney, James C. Pechmann, Relu Burlacu, Kristine L. Pankow, Suzette Payne, Harley M. Benz
Application of microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (MHVSR) analysis for site characterization: State of the art
Nakamura (Q Rep Railway Tech Res Inst 30:25–33, 1989) popularized the application of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) analysis of microtremor (seismic noise or ambient vibration) recordings to estimate the predominant frequency and amplification factor of earthquake shaking. During the following quarter century, popularity in the microtremor HVSR (MHVSR) method grew; studies have v
Authors
S. Molnar, J. F. Cassidy, S. Castellaro, C. Cornou, H. Crow, J. A. Hunter, S. Matsushima, F. J. Sanchez-Sesma, Alan Yong
Interaction between hydraulic fracture and a preexisting fracture under triaxial stress conditions
Enhanced reservoir connectivity generally requires maximizing the intersection between hydraulic fracture (HF) and preexisting underground natural fractures (NF), while having the hydraulic fracture cross the natural fractures (and not arrest). We have studied the interaction between a hydraulic fracture and a polished saw-cut fault. The experiments include a hydraulic fracture initiating from a p
Authors
Saied Mighani, David A. Lockner, Brian D. Kilgore, Farrokh Sheibani, Brian Evans
The intensity signature of induced seismicity
We analyze a comprehensive database of ∼63,000 geocoded community intensity observations from >400 earthquakes of moment magnitude M≥3.5 in Oklahoma from 2010 to 2016 to define the intensity signature of induced events. We show that natural and induced events have similar average intensities within 10 km of the epicenter. At greater distances, induced events have low‐average intensities compared w
Authors
Gail M. Atkinson, David J. Wald, Charles Worden, Vince Quitoriano
A suite of exercises for verifying dynamic earthquake rupture codes
We describe a set of benchmark exercises that are designed to test if computer codes that simulate dynamic earthquake rupture are working as intended. These types of computer codes are often used to understand how earthquakes operate, and they produce simulation results that include earthquake size, amounts of fault slip, and the patterns of ground shaking and crustal deformation. The benchmark ex
Authors
Ruth A. Harris, Michael Barall, Brad T. Aagaard, Shuo Ma, Daniel Roten, Kim Olsen, Benchun Duan, Dunyu Liu, Bin Luo, Kangchen Bai, Jean-Paul Ampuero, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Alice-Agnes Gabriel, Kenneth Duru, Thomas Ulrich, Stephanie Wollherr, Zheqiang Shi, Eric Dunham, Sam Bydlon, Zhenguo Zhang, Xiaofei Chen, Surendra N. Somala, Christian Pelties, Josue Tago, Victor Manuel Cruz-Atienza, Jeremy Kozdon, Eric Daub, Khurram Aslam, Yuko Kase, Kyle Withers, Luis Dalguer
Leveraging geodetic data to reduce losses from earthquakes
Seismic hazard assessments that are based on a variety of data and the best available science, coupled with rapid synthesis of real-time information from continuous monitoring networks to guide post-earthquake response, form a solid foundation for effective earthquake loss reduction. With this in mind, the Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Hazards Missio
Authors
Jessica R. Murray, Evelyn A. Roeloffs, Benjamin A. Brooks, John O. Langbein, William S. Leith, Sarah E. Minson, Jerry L. Svarc, Wayne R. Thatcher
Numerical models of pore pressure and stress changes along basement faults due to wastewater injection: Applications to the 2014 Milan, Kansas Earthquake
We have developed groundwater flow models to explore the possible relationship between wastewater injection and the 12 November 2014 Mw 4.8 Milan, Kansas earthquake. We calculate pore pressure increases in the uppermost crust using a suite of models in which hydraulic properties of the Arbuckle Formation and the Milan earthquake fault zone, the Milan earthquake hypocenter depth, and fault zone geo
Authors
Elizabeth H. Hearn, Christine Koltermann, Justin R. Rubinstein
Proximity of Precambrian basement affects the likelihood of induced seismicity in the Appalachian, Illinois, and Williston Basins, central and eastern United States
A dramatic seismicity rate increase in the central and eastern United States (CEUS) over the past decade has been largely associated with the increase in enhanced oil and gas recovery operations and change in industry practices. However, certain areas of the CEUS that have experienced large increases in oil and gas operations, such as the Bakken and Marcellus Shale plays (Williston and Appalachian
Authors
Robert J. Skoumal, Michael R. Brudzinski, Brian S. Currie
The HayWired earthquake scenario—We can outsmart disaster
The HayWired earthquake scenario, led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), anticipates the impacts of a hypothetical magnitude-7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault. The fault is along the east side of California’s San Francisco Bay and is among the most active and dangerous in the United States, because it runs through a densely urbanized and interconnected region. One way to learn about a large e
Authors
Kenneth W. Hudnut, Anne M. Wein, Dale A. Cox, Keith A. Porter, Laurie A. Johnson, Suzanne C. Perry, Jennifer L. Bruce, Drew LaPointe
Improving near‐real‐time coseismic landslide models: Lessons learned from the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing near‐real‐time global earthquake‐triggered‐landslide products to augment the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. The 14 November 2016 MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake provided a test case for evaluating the performance and near‐real‐time response applicability of three published global seismically induc
Authors
Kate E. Allstadt, Randall W. Jibson, Eric M. Thompson, Chris Massey, David J. Wald, Jonathan W. Godt, Francis K. Rengers
2018 one‐year seismic hazard forecast for the central and eastern United States from induced and natural earthquakes
This article describes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2018 one‐year probabilistic seismic hazard forecast for the central and eastern United States from induced and natural earthquakes. For consistency, the updated 2018 forecast is developed using the same probabilistic seismicity‐based methodology as applied in the two previous forecasts. Rates of earthquakes across the United States M≥3.0 gre
Authors
Mark D. Petersen, Charles Mueller, Morgan P. Moschetti, Susan M. Hoover, Kenneth S. Rukstales, Daniel E. McNamara, Robert A. Williams, Allison Shumway, Peter M. Powers, Paul S. Earle, Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael, Justin L. Rubinstein, Jack Norbeck, Elizabeth S. Cochran