Earthquake Science Center
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The Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California is the largest USGS research center in the West and houses extensive research laboratories, scientific infrastructure, and library facilities.
Our priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and the community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices.
Earthquake Science Center Seminars
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.
Browse SeminarsEarthquake Science Center Campus Video
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.
View videoHandbooks to Help You Prepare for an Earthquake
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.
View HandbooksNews
M6.5 Monte Cristo Range Earthquake
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck near Tonopah, Nevada, near the California-Nevada border and about 120 miles southeast of Carson City, early this morning on May 15, 2020, at 4:03 am local time (11:03:27 UTC).
Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake Felt in Central Idaho
On March 31, 2020, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck near Boise, ID, in the Challis National Forest. Seismic instruments indicate the earthquake originated at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
Publications
Evidence of previous faulting along the 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures
The July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence in southeastern California was characterized as surprising because only ~35% of the rupture occurred on previously mapped faults. Employing more detailed inspection of pre-event high-resolution topography and imagery in combination with field observations, we document evidence of active faulting in the...
Thompson Jobe, Jessica; Philibosian, Belle; Chupik, Colin; Dawson, Timothy E.; Bennett, Scott E. K.; Gold, Ryan D.; Duross, Christopher; Ladinsky, Tyler C.; Kendrick, Katherine; Haddon, Elizabeth; Pierce, Ian; Swanson, Brian J.; Seitz, Gordon G. Segmentation and supercycles: A catalog of earthquake rupture patterns from the Sumatran Sunda Megathrust and other well-studied faults worldwide
After more than 100 years of earthquake research, earthquake forecasting, which relies on knowledge of past fault rupture patterns, has become the foundation for societal defense against seismic natural disasters. A concept that has come into focus more recently is that rupture segmentation and cyclicity can be complex, and that a characteristic...
Philibosian, Belle; Meltzner, Aron J.
Graphical Dispersion Plot Editor (DPE) for seismic-site characterization by using multiple surface-wave methods
IntroductionTo understand the behavior of potentially damaging ground motions during earthquakes, seismic-site effects are routinely characterized by using the dispersion of surface waves. Many methods exist to measure dispersion; these methods have various advantages and disadvantages, but they all yield dispersion data that must be inverted for...
McPhillips, Devin; Yong, Alan K.; Martin, Antony; Stephenson, William J.