Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 7221

Noble gas isotopes in mineral springs and wells within the Cascadia forearc, Washington, Oregon, and California

IntroductionThis U.S. Geological Survey report presents laboratory analyses along with field notes for an exploratory study to document the relative abundance of noble gases in mineral springs and water wells within the Cascadia forearc of Washington, Oregon, and California (fig. 1). This report describes 14 samples collected in 2014 and 2015 and complements a previous report that describes 9 samp
Authors
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt

The 3D Elevation Program—Landslide recognition, hazard assessment, and mitigation support

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Program conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach. All of these activities benefit from the availability of high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) elevation information in the form of light detection and ranging
Authors
Vicki Lukas, William J. Carswell, Jr.

Development of a coupled wave-flow-vegetation interaction model

Emergent and submerged vegetation can significantly affect coastal hydrodynamics. However, most deterministic numerical models do not take into account their influence on currents, waves, and turbulence. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a wave-flow-vegetation module into a Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system that includes a flow model (ROMS) an
Authors
Alexis Beudin, Tarandeep S. Kalra, Neil K. Ganju, John C. Warner

Integrating landslide and liquefaction hazard and loss estimates with existing USGS real-time earthquake information products

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has made significant progress toward the rapid estimation of shaking and shakingrelated losses through their Did You Feel It? (DYFI), ShakeMap, ShakeCast, and PAGER products. However, quantitative estimates of the extent and severity of secondary hazards (e.g., landsliding, liquefaction) are not currently included in scenarios and real-time post-earthquake product
Authors
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne, M. Anna Nowicki Jessee, J. Zhu, David J. Wald, Hakan Tanyas

Apparent late Quaternary fault slip rate increase in the southwestern Lower Rhine Graben, central Europe

In regions of low strain, long earthquake recurrence intervals (104–106  yrs) and erosive processes limit preservation of Quaternary markers suitable for distinguishing whether faults slip at uniform or secularly varying rates. The Lower Rhine graben in the border region of Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium provides a unique opportunity to explore Quaternary slip‐rate variations in a region of
Authors
Ryan D. Gold, Anke M. Friedrich, Simon Kubler, Martin Salamon

Oklahoma experiences largest earthquake during ongoing regional wastewater injection hazard mitigation efforts

The 3 September 2016, Mw 5.8 Pawnee earthquake was the largest recorded earthquake in the state of Oklahoma. Seismic and geodetic observations of the Pawnee sequence, including precise hypocenter locations and moment tensor modeling, shows that the Pawnee earthquake occurred on a previously unknown left-lateral strike-slip basement fault that intersects the mapped right-lateral Labette fault zone.
Authors
William L. Yeck, Gavin P. Hayes, Daniel E. McNamara, Justin L. Rubinstein, William D. Barnhart, Paul S. Earle, Harley M. Benz

Tectonic summaries of magnitude 7 and greater earthquakes from 2000 to 2015

This paper describes the tectonic summaries for all magnitude 7 and larger earthquakes in the period 2000–2015, as produced by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center during their routine response operations to global earthquakes. The goal of such summaries is to provide important event-specific information to the public rapidly and concisely, such that recent earthquakes
Authors
Gavin P. Hayes, Emma K. Meyers, James W. Dewey, Richard W. Briggs, Paul S. Earle, Harley M. Benz, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Hanna E. Flamme, William D. Barnhart, Ryan D. Gold, Kevin P. Furlong

Responses of a 64-story unique San Francisco, CA. building to four earthquakes and ambient motions

We analyze the ambient and earthquake responses of a 64-story, instrumented, concrete core shear wall building in San Francisco, Calif. equipped with tuned sloshing liquid dampers (TSDs) and buckling restraining braces (BRBs). In an earlier paper [1], only ambient data were used to identify dynamic characteristics. Recently, the 72-channel instrumental array of the building recorded the 24 August
Authors
Mehmet Çelebi, J. Hooper, Ron Klemencic

Micro-seismicity within the Coso Geothermal field, California, from 1996-2012

We extend our previous catalog of seismicity within the Coso Geothermal field by adding over two and a half years of additional data to prior results. In total, we locate over 16 years of seismicity spanning from April 1996 to May of 2012 using a refined velocity model, apply it to all events and utilize differential travel times in relocations to improve the accuracy of event locations. The impro
Authors
J. Ole Kaven, Stephen H. Hickman, Lisa C. Weber

Improvements in absolute seismometer sensitivity calibration using local earth gravity measurements

The ability to determine both absolute and relative seismic amplitudes is fundamentally limited by the accuracy and precision with which scientists are able to calibrate seismometer sensitivities and characterize their response. Currently, across the Global Seismic Network (GSN), errors in midband sensitivity exceed 3% at the 95% confidence interval and are the least‐constrained response parameter
Authors
Robert E. Anthony, Adam T. Ringler, David C. Wilson

The HayWired Earthquake Scenario

ForewordThe 1906 Great San Francisco earthquake (magnitude 7.8) and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (magnitude 6.9) each motivated residents of the San Francisco Bay region to build countermeasures to earthquakes into the fabric of the region. Since Loma Prieta, bay-region communities, governments, and utilities have invested tens of billions of dollars in seismic upgrades and retrofits and replac

Control of landslide volume and hazard by glacial stratigraphic architecture, Northwest Washington state, USA

Landslide volumes span many orders of magnitude, but large-volume slides tend to travel farther and consequently can pose a greater hazard. In northwest Washington State, USA, a landscape abounding with landslides big and small, the recent occurrence of the large-volume and tragically deadly State Route 530 (Oso) landslide is a stark reminder of the hazards associated with glacial terraces lining
Authors
Jonathan Perkins, Mark E. Reid, Kevin M. Schmidt