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Earthquake Science Center

The Earthquake Science Center has been the flagship research center of the USGS in the western United States for more than 50 years. It is the largest USGS research center in the West and houses extensive laboratories, scientific infrastructure, and research facilities.

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Earthquake Science Center Seminars

USGS logo and EQ Seminar Series

Seminars typically take place at 10:30 AM Wednesdays in the Rambo Auditorium (main USGS Conference Room). The USGS Campus is located at 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA.

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Earthquake Science Center Campus Video

man in front of slideshow presentation

This short, 7-minute video gives an overview of the USGS Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California. It briefly introduces you to the San Francisco Bay Area, shows the campus and facilities, and includes interviews with scientists.

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Handbooks to Help You Prepare for an Earthquake

Cartoon sketch of house on grassy hill

USGS handbooks that describe the threat posed by earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region and explain how you can prepare for, survive, and recover from these inevitable events.

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News

Even small lakes can tell big earthquake stories in the Yellowstone region

Even small lakes can tell big earthquake stories in the Yellowstone region

USGS Seeks Earthquake Hazards Research Proposals

USGS Seeks Earthquake Hazards Research Proposals

(Some) Assembly Required: How to sign your organization up for the Great ShakeOut

(Some) Assembly Required: How to sign your organization up for the Great ShakeOut

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Publications

Rapid characterization of the 2025 Mw 8.8 Kamchatka, Russia earthquake Rapid characterization of the 2025 Mw 8.8 Kamchatka, Russia earthquake

The 29 July 2025 Mw 8.8 Kamchatka, Russia, earthquake was the sixth largest instrumentally recorded earthquake. This event was seismically well observed at regional and teleseismic distances, but publicly available near‐source data were sparse at the time of the event, presenting unique challenges for rapid source and impact characterization. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National...
Authors
Harriet Zoe Yin, Kate E. Allstadt, William D Barnhart, Samantha Ann Clapp, Paul S. Earle, Dara Elyse Goldberg, Alex R. Grant, Matt Herman, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Sara K. McBride, Adam T. Ringler, Max Schneider, Eric M. Thompson, Nicholas van der Elst, David Wald, Dun Wang, Charles Worden, William L. Yeck
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Capturing the uncertainty of seismicity observations in earthquake rate estimates: Implications for probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and the USGS National Seismic Hazard Model Capturing the uncertainty of seismicity observations in earthquake rate estimates: Implications for probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and the USGS National Seismic Hazard Model

The rate of earthquakes in a region is a fundamental input to Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis. We present a Monte Carlo method for computing that rate from seismicity catalogs while including a range of data and analysis uncertainties. This method is applied to regions for which the b value is assumed to be spatially invariant. Each region is broken down into epochs for which each...
Authors
Andrew J. Michael, Andrea L. Llenos
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center

Using gridded seismicity to forecast the long-term spatial distribution of earthquakes for the 2025 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model Using gridded seismicity to forecast the long-term spatial distribution of earthquakes for the 2025 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model

Gridded (or background) seismicity models are a critical component of probabilistic seismic hazard assessments, accounting for off‐fault and smaller‐magnitude earthquakes. They are typically developed by declustering and spatially smoothing an earthquake catalog to estimate a long‐term seismicity rate that can be used to forecast future earthquakes. Here, we present new gridded...
Authors
Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael, Kirstie Lafon Haynie, Allison Shumway, Julie A. Herrick
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center
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