David J Wald
Dr. Wald is a Seismologist with the USGS in Golden. He is involved in research, development & operations of several real-time earthquake information systems at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center. He developed and manages “ShakeMap”, “Did You Feel it?”, & is responsible for developing other systems for post-earthquake response & pre-earthquake mitigation, including ShakeCas
Wald's scientific interests include the characterization of rupture processes from complex recent and historic earthquakes using combined geodetic, teleseismic, and strong motion data; waveform modelling and inversion; analysis of ground motion hazards and site effects; earthquake source physics; and modelling earthquake-induced landslides, liquefaction, and losses, macroseismic intensity, building damage, financial and human impact, rapid damage and impact assessment, earthquake scenario development and mitigation planning and drills, and communication with the media, public, and emergency managers.
Previously at Caltech, and now at the Colorado School of Mines, Wald has advised dozens of post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate student research projects. Wald directly supervises 10 PhD level scientists and 5 five BS and MS level support staff, and supervises several students. Wald serves on several PhD committees at this time. This research has resulted in more than 450 professional publications that David has authored or co-authored, including journal papers, USGS publication series, conference papers, and published abstracts.
Education:
Post-doctoral Fellow, Geophysics, National Research Council, USGS, Pasadena, 1995
Ph.D., Geophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 1993
M.S., Geophysics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 1986
B.S., Geology & Physics, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, 1984
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 157
Human behavioral response in the Ridgecrest earthquakes: Assessing immediate actions based on data from “Did You Feel It?”
Human behavioral response to earthquake ground motion has long been a subject of multidisciplinary interest and research. In most versions of seismic intensity scales, human perceptions and behavior are one component of the assignment of intensity. Public health research has shown that actions taken during earthquakes have a significant impact on the incidence of injury or the maintenance of safet
Authors
James D. Goltz, Hyejeong Park, Vince Quitoriano, David J. Wald
A global hybrid VS30 map with a topographic slope–based default and regional map insets
Time-averaged shear wave velocity over the upper 30 m of the earth’s surface (VS30) is a key parameter for estimating ground motion amplification as both a predictive and a diagnostic tool for earthquake hazards. The first-order approximation of VS30 is commonly obtained through a topographic slope–based or terrain proxy due to the widely available nature of digital elevation models. However, bett
Authors
David C. Heath, David J. Wald, C. Bruce Worden, Eric M. Thompson, Gregory M. Smoczyk
Practical limitations of Earthquake Early Warning
Earthquake Early Earning (EEW) entails detection of initial earthquake shaking and rapid estimation and notification to users prior to imminent, stronger shaking. EEW is coming to the U.S. West Coast. But what are the technical and social challenges to delivering actionable information on earthquake shaking before it arrives? Although there will be tangible benefits, there are also limitations. Ba
Authors
David J. Wald
USGS “Did You Feel It?” — Science and lessons from twenty years of citizen science-based macroseismology
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?” (DYFI) system is an automatic method for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from Internet users’ shaking and damage reports and for generating intensity maps immediately following felt earthquakes. DYFI has been in operation for nearly two decades (1999-2019) in the United States, and for nearly 15 years globally. During that period
Authors
Vince Quitoriano, David J. Wald
Earthquakes, ShakeCast
ShakeCast® – short for ShakeMap Broadcast – is a fully automated software system for delivering specific ShakeMap products to critical users and for triggering established post-earthquake response protocols. ShakeCast is a freely available, postearthquake situational awareness software application that automatically retrieves earthquake shaking data from ShakeMap to compare ground shaking intensit
Authors
Kuo-wan Lin, David J. Wald, Daniel Slosky
Estimating rupture dimensions of three major earthquakes in Sichuan, China, for early warning and rapid loss estimates
Large earthquakes like in Wenchuan in 2008, MW 7.9, Sichuan, China, provide opportunity for earthquake early warning (EEW) as many heavily shaken areas are far (~50 km) from the epicenter and warning time could be long enough (≥ 5 s) to take effective preventative action. On the other hand, earthquakes with magnitudes larger than ~M 6.5 are challenging for EEW since source dimensions need to be de
Authors
Jiawei Li, Maren Böse, Max Wyss, David J. Wald, Alexandra Hutchinson, John F. Clinton, Zhongliang Wu, Changsheng Jiang, Shiyong Zhou
Earthquakes, did you feel it?
The US Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?”® (DYFI) system is an automated system for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from Internet users’ shaking and damage reports and generating intensity maps immediately following earthquakes.Although the collection and assignment of DYFI-based Macroseismic Intensity (MI) data depart from traditional assignments, they are made more quickl
Authors
David J. Wald, Vince Quitoriano, James W. Dewey
Book review: The Dynamics of Risk: Changing Technologies and Collective Action in Seismic Events
No abstract available.
Authors
David J. Wald
A domestic earthquake impact alert protocol based on the combined USGS PAGER and FEMA Hazus loss estimation systems
The U.S. Geological Survey’s PAGER alert system provides rapid (10-20 min) but general loss estimates of ranges of fatalities and economic impact for significant global earthquakes. FEMA’s Hazus software, in contrast, provides time consuming (2-5 hours) but more detailed loss information quantified in terms of structural, social, and economic consequences estimated at a much higher spatial resolut
Authors
David J. Wald, Hope A. Seligson, Jesse Rozelle, Jordan Burns, Kristin Marano, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Mike Hearne, Douglas Bausch
Seismic monitoring & response for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
The 800-mile Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) passes through extremely remote regions, where there is a high potential for seismic activity. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the TAPS operator, has been on the forefront of seismic engineering and situational awareness, and continues to enhance its capabilities. TAPS has used earthquake monitoring since the pipeline was constructed in 1977 and r
Authors
S Strait, David J. Wald
An update of USGS bear-real-time earthquake shaking and impact products
We report on advancements in both hazard and consequence modeling that form the core of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) strategy to improve rapid earthquake shaking and loss estimates. Whereas our primary goal is to improve our operational capabilities of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center, the science, software, and datasets behind these systems continue to advance uses and stud
Authors
David J. Wald, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Kristin Marano, Mike Hearne, Kuo-wan Lin, Daniel Slosky, Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, Charles Worden, Gavin P. Hayes, Vince Quitoriano
Earthquakes, ShakeMap
ShakeMap® is an open-source software program employed to automatically produce a suite of maps and products that portray the geographical extent and severity of potentially damaging shaking following an earthquake. ShakeMap’s primary purpose is to provide post-earthquake situational awareness for emergency management and response as well as damage and loss estimation. The availability of ShakeMaps
Authors
David J. Wald, Charles Worden, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne
Non-USGS Publications**
References in Google Scholar
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 157
Human behavioral response in the Ridgecrest earthquakes: Assessing immediate actions based on data from “Did You Feel It?”
Human behavioral response to earthquake ground motion has long been a subject of multidisciplinary interest and research. In most versions of seismic intensity scales, human perceptions and behavior are one component of the assignment of intensity. Public health research has shown that actions taken during earthquakes have a significant impact on the incidence of injury or the maintenance of safet
Authors
James D. Goltz, Hyejeong Park, Vince Quitoriano, David J. Wald
A global hybrid VS30 map with a topographic slope–based default and regional map insets
Time-averaged shear wave velocity over the upper 30 m of the earth’s surface (VS30) is a key parameter for estimating ground motion amplification as both a predictive and a diagnostic tool for earthquake hazards. The first-order approximation of VS30 is commonly obtained through a topographic slope–based or terrain proxy due to the widely available nature of digital elevation models. However, bett
Authors
David C. Heath, David J. Wald, C. Bruce Worden, Eric M. Thompson, Gregory M. Smoczyk
Practical limitations of Earthquake Early Warning
Earthquake Early Earning (EEW) entails detection of initial earthquake shaking and rapid estimation and notification to users prior to imminent, stronger shaking. EEW is coming to the U.S. West Coast. But what are the technical and social challenges to delivering actionable information on earthquake shaking before it arrives? Although there will be tangible benefits, there are also limitations. Ba
Authors
David J. Wald
USGS “Did You Feel It?” — Science and lessons from twenty years of citizen science-based macroseismology
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?” (DYFI) system is an automatic method for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from Internet users’ shaking and damage reports and for generating intensity maps immediately following felt earthquakes. DYFI has been in operation for nearly two decades (1999-2019) in the United States, and for nearly 15 years globally. During that period
Authors
Vince Quitoriano, David J. Wald
Earthquakes, ShakeCast
ShakeCast® – short for ShakeMap Broadcast – is a fully automated software system for delivering specific ShakeMap products to critical users and for triggering established post-earthquake response protocols. ShakeCast is a freely available, postearthquake situational awareness software application that automatically retrieves earthquake shaking data from ShakeMap to compare ground shaking intensit
Authors
Kuo-wan Lin, David J. Wald, Daniel Slosky
Estimating rupture dimensions of three major earthquakes in Sichuan, China, for early warning and rapid loss estimates
Large earthquakes like in Wenchuan in 2008, MW 7.9, Sichuan, China, provide opportunity for earthquake early warning (EEW) as many heavily shaken areas are far (~50 km) from the epicenter and warning time could be long enough (≥ 5 s) to take effective preventative action. On the other hand, earthquakes with magnitudes larger than ~M 6.5 are challenging for EEW since source dimensions need to be de
Authors
Jiawei Li, Maren Böse, Max Wyss, David J. Wald, Alexandra Hutchinson, John F. Clinton, Zhongliang Wu, Changsheng Jiang, Shiyong Zhou
Earthquakes, did you feel it?
The US Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?”® (DYFI) system is an automated system for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from Internet users’ shaking and damage reports and generating intensity maps immediately following earthquakes.Although the collection and assignment of DYFI-based Macroseismic Intensity (MI) data depart from traditional assignments, they are made more quickl
Authors
David J. Wald, Vince Quitoriano, James W. Dewey
Book review: The Dynamics of Risk: Changing Technologies and Collective Action in Seismic Events
No abstract available.
Authors
David J. Wald
A domestic earthquake impact alert protocol based on the combined USGS PAGER and FEMA Hazus loss estimation systems
The U.S. Geological Survey’s PAGER alert system provides rapid (10-20 min) but general loss estimates of ranges of fatalities and economic impact for significant global earthquakes. FEMA’s Hazus software, in contrast, provides time consuming (2-5 hours) but more detailed loss information quantified in terms of structural, social, and economic consequences estimated at a much higher spatial resolut
Authors
David J. Wald, Hope A. Seligson, Jesse Rozelle, Jordan Burns, Kristin Marano, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Mike Hearne, Douglas Bausch
Seismic monitoring & response for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
The 800-mile Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) passes through extremely remote regions, where there is a high potential for seismic activity. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the TAPS operator, has been on the forefront of seismic engineering and situational awareness, and continues to enhance its capabilities. TAPS has used earthquake monitoring since the pipeline was constructed in 1977 and r
Authors
S Strait, David J. Wald
An update of USGS bear-real-time earthquake shaking and impact products
We report on advancements in both hazard and consequence modeling that form the core of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) strategy to improve rapid earthquake shaking and loss estimates. Whereas our primary goal is to improve our operational capabilities of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center, the science, software, and datasets behind these systems continue to advance uses and stud
Authors
David J. Wald, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Kristin Marano, Mike Hearne, Kuo-wan Lin, Daniel Slosky, Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, Charles Worden, Gavin P. Hayes, Vince Quitoriano
Earthquakes, ShakeMap
ShakeMap® is an open-source software program employed to automatically produce a suite of maps and products that portray the geographical extent and severity of potentially damaging shaking following an earthquake. ShakeMap’s primary purpose is to provide post-earthquake situational awareness for emergency management and response as well as damage and loss estimation. The availability of ShakeMaps
Authors
David J. Wald, Charles Worden, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne
Non-USGS Publications**
References in Google Scholar
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.