Publications
Educational Publications
Educational Publications
Selected publications about earthquakes In plain language.
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Summary of the GK15 ground‐motion prediction equation for horizontal PGA and 5% damped PSA from shallow crustal continental earthquakes
We present a revised ground‐motion prediction equation (GMPE) for computing medians and standard deviations of peak ground acceleration (PGA) and 5% damped pseudospectral acceleration (PSA) response ordinates of the horizontal component of randomly oriented ground motions to be used for seismic‐hazard analyses and engineering applications. This GMPE is derived from the expanded Next Generation Att
Authors
Vladimir; Graizer, Erol Kalkan
Earthquake forecast for the Wasatch Front region of the Intermountain West
The Working Group on Utah Earthquake Probabilities has assessed the probability of large earthquakes in the Wasatch Front region. There is a 43 percent probability of one or more magnitude 6.75 or greater earthquakes and a 57 percent probability of one or more magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes in the region in the next 50 years. These results highlight the threat of large earthquakes in the reg
Authors
Christopher B. DuRoss
Postseismic gravity change after the 2006–2007 great earthquake doublet and constraints on the asthenosphere structure in the central Kuril Islands
Large earthquakes often trigger viscoelastic adjustment for years to decades depending on the rheological properties and the nature and spatial extent of coseismic stress. The 2006 Mw8.3 thrust and 2007 Mw8.1 normal fault earthquakes of the central Kuril Islands resulted in significant postseismic gravity change in Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) but without a discernible coseismic
Authors
Shin-Chan Han, Jeanne Sauber, Fred Pollitz
Tomographic Rayleigh-wave group velocities in the Central Valley, California centered on the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta
If shaking from a local or regional earthquake in the San Francisco Bay region were to rupture levees in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta then brackish water from San Francisco Bay would contaminate the water in the Delta: the source of fresh water for about half of California. As a prelude to a full shear-wave velocity model that can be used in computer simulations and further seismic hazard anal
Authors
Jon Peter B. Fletcher, Jemile Erdem, Kevin Seats, Jesse Lawrence
RMT focal plane sensitivity to seismic network geometry and faulting style
Modern tectonic studies often use regional moment tensors (RMTs) to interpret the seismotectonic framework of an earthquake or earthquake sequence; however, despite extensive use, little existing work addresses RMT parameter uncertainty. Here, we quantify how network geometry and faulting style affect RMT sensitivity. We examine how data-model fits change with fault plane geometry (strike and dip)
Authors
Kendra L. Johnson, Gavin P. Hayes, Robert B. Herrmann, Harley M. Benz, Daniel E. McNamara, Eric A. Bergman
Evaluation of six NEHRP B/C crustal amplification models proposed for use in western North America
We evaluate six crustal amplification models based on National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) B/C crustal profiles proposed for use in western North America (WNA) and often used in other active crustal regions where crustal properties are unknown. One of the models is based on an interpolation of generic rock velocity profiles previously proposed for WNA and central and eastern North
Authors
David Boore, Kenneth W. Campbell
Detailed mapping and rupture implications of the 1 km releasing bend in the Rodgers Creek Fault at Santa Rosa, northern California
Airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) topography reveals for the first time the trace of the Rodgers Creek fault (RCF) through the center of Santa Rosa, the largest city in the northern San Francisco Bay area. Vertical deformation of the Santa Rosa Creek floodplain expresses a composite pull‐apart basin beneath the urban cover that is part of a broader 1‐km‐wide right‐releasing bend in the
Authors
Suzanne Hecker, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert Williams, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Stephen B. DeLong
Seismic site characterization of an urban dedimentary basin, Livermore Valley, California: Site tesponse, basin-edge-induced surface waves, and 3D simulations
Thirty‐two accelerometers were deployed in the Livermore Valley, California, for approximately one year to study sedimentary basin effects. Many local and near‐regional earthquakes were recorded, including the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 Napa, California, earthquake. The resulting ground‐motion data set is used to quantify the seismic response of the Livermore basin, a major structural depression in the
Authors
Stephen H. Hartzell, Alena L. Leeds, Leonardo Ramirez-Guzman, James P. Allen, Robert G. Schmitt
Relationships between diatoms and tidal environments in Oregon and Washington, USA
A new regional dataset comprising 425 intertidal diatom taxa from 175 samples from 11 ecologically diverse Oregon and Washington estuaries illustrates the importance of compiling a large modern dataset from a range of sites. Cluster analyses and detrended correspondence analysis of the diatom assemblages identify distinct vertical zones within supratidal, intertidal and subtidal environments at si
Authors
Yuki Sawai, Benjamin P. Horton, Andrew C. Kemp, Andrea D. Hawkes, Tamostsu Nagumo, Alan R. Nelson
USGS approach to real-time estimation of earthquake-triggered ground failure - Results of 2015 workshop
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards and Landslide Hazards Programs are developing plans to add quantitative hazard assessments of earthquake-triggered landsliding and liquefaction to existing real-time earthquake products (ShakeMap, ShakeCast, PAGER) using open and readily available methodologies and products. To date, prototype global statistical models have been developed and ar
Authors
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, David J. Wald, Michael W. Hamburger, Jonathan W. Godt, Keith L. Knudsen, Randall W. Jibson, M. Anna Jessee, Jing Zhu, Michael Hearne, Laurie G. Baise, Hakan Tanyas, Kristin D. Marano
2016 one-year seismic hazard forecast for the Central and Eastern United States from induced and natural earthquakes
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has produced a 1-year seismic hazard forecast for 2016 for the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) that includes contributions from both induced and natural earthquakes. The model assumes that earthquake rates calculated from several different time windows will remain relatively stationary and can be used to forecast earthquake hazard and damage intensity for
Authors
Mark D. Petersen, Charles S. Mueller, Morgan P. Moschetti, Susan M. Hoover, Andrea L. Llenos, William L. Ellsworth, Andrew J. Michael, Justin L. Rubinstein, Arthur F. McGarr, Kenneth S. Rukstales
Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake
The Gorkha earthquake (magnitude 7.8) on 25 April 2015 and later aftershocks struck South Asia, killing ~9000 people and damaging a large region. Supported by a large campaign of responsive satellite data acquisitions over the earthquake disaster zone, our team undertook a satellite image survey of the earthquakes’ induced geohazards in Nepal and China and an assessment of the geomorphic, tectonic
Authors
J.S. Kargel, G.J. Leonard, D. H. Shugar, U. K. Haritashya, A. Bevington, E.J. Fielding, K. Fujita, M. Geertsema, E. S. Miles, J. Steiner, E. Anderson, S. Bajracharya, G.W. Bawden, D. F. Breashears, A. Byers, B. Collins, M. R. Dhital, A. Donnellan, T. L. Evans, M. L. Geai, M. T. Glasscoe, D. Green, D. R. Gurung, R. Heijenk, A. Hilborn, K. Hudnut, C. Huyck, W. W. Immerzeel, Jiang Li, R. Jibson, A. Kaab, N. R. Khanal, D. Kirschbaum, P. D. A. Kraaijenbrink, D. Lamsal, Liu Shiyin, Lv Mingyang, D. McKinney, N. K. Nahirnick, Nan Zhuotong, S. Ojha, J. Olsenholler, T. H. Painter, M. Pleasants, K. C. Pratima, Q. I. Yuan, B.H. Raup, D. Regmi, D. R. Rounce, A. Sakai, Shangguan Donghui, J. M. Shea, A. B. Shrestha, A. Shukla, D. Stumm, M. van der Kooij, K. Voss, Wang Xin, B. Weihs, Wu Lizong, Yao Xiaojun, M. R. Yoder, N. Young